|
Dawn Okpisz
Dawn Okpisz
 River Of God, Hershey's Kisses, And A Stork???
God recently took me into 3 amazing, heavenly encounters. With each one, God revealed another dimension of the same message. It was not until the last encounter that I understood how they fit together. It began with a vision this past July...
Kisses From God
On 7/30/07, I was taken up in the Spirit to an archway that led to heaven. I stepped through the archway. Then I saw the Ancient of Days sitting on a throne. His hair & beard were long & white. His crown had a golden cross embedded in the top on the front of the crown. His shoulders were covered with VICTORY medallions. His sleeves were decorated with precious metals that gleamed brilliantly. Oil was dripping from the cuffs of his sleeves.
Then I heard water rushing and there next to the throne was a sort of trough laid in the pavement/floor. This trough had a river of water flowing through it. In the bottom of this trough/river was what looked like Hershey's kisses. I laughed. There were many colors to these kisses. I was told that these were kisses from God. Every time God touches someone with His presence, it's like receiving one of these kisses from Him.
I looked to the left and saw behind the throne was the source of the water. It flowed from UNDER a treasure chest. This chest was called "The Blessings Of Heaven" and below that chest flowed the stream of water with the kisses from God. I looked back at the treasure chest and saw a latch at the top. I was told that I had been given the ability to open the latch to release the treasures. I was amazed and at first I could do nothing but stare at it. Then I looked across the room to the right and saw an opening between the wall and the floor of the trough/river. There was something beyond that wall that I could not see but I was told it blocked the contents of this river from flowing out. I was then told that people had the ability to release this - to open this trough - I got the impression the desperate cry of the people is what releases this to flow down out of heaven. I looked back at the treasure chest to my left - I reached out to touch it but I was not yet told how to open it.
Interpretation
The arched doorway to this room is Jesus himself which was revealed by the golden cross embedded in the top of the crown. The reason the Ancient Of Days wears it in His crown and not on his shoulder (with the rest of the victory medallions) is because the victory of the cross was the greatest victory of all time.
The treasure chest is opened by "gatekeepers" through worship. As the kisses represent God's blessings that come in many forms (supernatural signs, wonders, healings, provision), so this treasure chest contains more blessings than the human mind can even comprehend.
The "trap door" that blocks the flow of the river full of God's kisses is OPENED when people's hearts are open to receive Him.
The Kisses Continue...
On 11/3/07, God took me up in the Spirit again, back to the throne room. I saw Hershey's kisses, except this time, He took me straight to the chocolate factory where the kisses were being made. I thought it was strange that such a place even existed, or that God would consider it important to speak to me about chocolate. Then suddenly I saw a huge white stork fly overhead. This stork picked up a square sheet with four corners in it's beak. The sheet was filled with Hershey's kisses, wrapped in red. As the stork flew out of the chocolate factory, I was taken up by the Spirit to follow behind the stork.
First we flew over a dark valley. The stork dropped many kisses into that valley. This valley represented people who were in dark circumstances in life, and God was dropping blessings of His love to encourage and strengthen them in the midst of these dark times.
Then we flew over a mountain peak. The chocolate kisses immediately melted in the heat of God's presence on the top of this mountain. The melted chocolate dripped down and coated the top of the mountain like wax. The mountain represented people who have come up to the mountain of God and are experiencing the sweetness of His presence and the intense heat of His glory.
Then I was transported into the atmosphere, where I was viewing the earth from the vantage point of a satellite in orbit. From there I could see a great number of large, white storks released, each one with a sheet in it's beak, and each sheet was filled with chocolate kisses. The storks delivered these kisses from God all over the earth, to people who were hungering for His presence.
Then I was shown the chocolate factory in heaven again, and I could see God releasing these white storks in greater and greater number as they continued to release God's glory on the earth.
I pondered this vision for many days, wondering why He was speaking to me using images of red Hershey's kisses and a white stork. Then, 16 days later, I had another encounter...
A Silver Kiss...
On 11/19/07, I met with a friend for prayer. When I first walked in her living room, my eyes were drawn to a glass candy dish that had Hershey's kisses wrapped in red. There was a lid on the dish with a flat/square like knob that was about 1 1/2 inches wide. Now I have been avoiding chocolate due to a food sensitivity...
Before we prayed, my friend offered a cup of tea. So we left the room TOGETHER, and went into the kitchen. When we returned, I was surprised to find a shiny SILVER feather sitting right on top of the candy dish, literally on top of the square knob! It was gleaming under the table lamp. The feather wasn't there before we went to get tea, but it was there when we came back. I immediately thought of Psalm 68:13, "Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold."
Why Storks?
At this point I understood that the kisses represented God's love, but the image of the stork kept coming to mind. I found myself asking God lots of questions. Did He send the stork? Was this silver feather from a winged, heavenly creature? As I inquired of the Lord, He told me to do some research about storks.
I learned that the largest stork has a wing span of 10.5 feet (3.2 m), and is one of the two largest birds in the world. Rather than flapping their wings, they soar, with feet down and necks straight. I also learned they can live up to 70 years.
The white stork (which is what I saw in my vision), likes to live in open farmland, with access to marshy wetland. Storks return year after year to the same nest, building on the foundation that had already been built, making an even larger nest the following year. The nests have been known to grow up to 6 feet wide and 10 feet deep!
They are considered a symbol of good luck by many cultures. One reason for this is because they like to eat rodents, cicadas and other farmland pests. Another reason is because of their singularly monogomous (one season) relationships. Some consider the white stork to be a symbol of a "chaste marriage."
The Hebrew word for Stork means "kind mother."
Storks In The Bible
"7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons..." Jeremiah 8:7 NIV
13"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork." Job 39:13 NIV
I compared this with another translation, and was amazed at the reference to love:
13 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, [but] are they the pinions and plumage of love? Job 39:13 Amplified Bible
Here is another reference to stork-like qualities seen in heavenly messengers, sent by God:
9"Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth." Zech. 5:9 NIV
What amazed me most was how the stork-like description in Zechariah 5:9 was cross-referenced with the description of God's heavenly messengers in this verse below:
"3 ...He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants." Psalm 104:3-4 NIV
Wow! That's what I saw in the vision on 11/3/07! God used a stork-like heavenly being to soar on the wind of the Spirit and to deliver His kisses from the throne room in heaven!
Spiritual Birthing
After doing this study, God took me back to this verse:
13"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork." Job 39:13 NIV
Job 39 is full of examples of giving birth and caring for young. A friend pointed out to me on Sunday that this is a time of God birthing something new in the body of Christ...
Thank you God for giving us visions of your amazing love. Thank you for giving us new revelation of your nature. We receive You, Lord Jesus, and all You have for us. We pray now for the heavens to be opened and for Your heavenly, winged messengers to be released! We acknowledge that You are perfect and pure and holy and magnificent. We rest in Your love, and savor Your presence.
Taste and see, the Lord is good!
And He likes chocolate too!!!
Dawn Okpisz
"Rejoicing comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5
Worship Director
Editor & Worship Advisor
10/11/07
Jesus Says to His Bride, "Rise Up!"
Dawn Okpisz
The Vision:
As I was going to bed, God took me into a vision. I saw a figure of a woman, face down on the floor, as if praying or worshipping. She was crying. There she laid in the center of the church sanctuary, with her face and torso on the steps leading up to the chancel/altar area. She was crying because of a heavy weight on her back. I could see this weight in the form of a spiritual darkness. It was a burden she had been carrying for a long time.
The Spirit of the Lord told me to remove this burden off of her back, and as I reached out to remove it, the dark weight simply turned into scales and fell to the floor.
Once the weight was gone, she was able to stand up. She looked like a wilted flower. Like a dandelion before it goes to seed. Limp, barely alive, straining as though fighting for her life.
The Spirit of the Lord told me to blow over her. So I blew on her. When I did, the flower suddenly grew up into a tall, stately bride, about 18 - 20 feet tall. I could tell she was a bride because she was wearing a white wedding gown, and had a long train flowing behind her.
Someone ran up to the bride and stepped on her beautiful white train with muddy shoes which left muddy footprints behind. This mud had to be cleaned off of her train.
Then, someone grabbed strings that were fastened to an old-fashioned type of corset around her torso, and pulled them tight. When this happened, the restriction from the corset caused the bride to have trouble breathing. Her breathing became shallow and uneven. She could no longer draw in deep breaths and I could see her suffocating. Instructions were given for the corset to be loosened so that the bride could breathe freely again.
Interpretation:
The Lord told me this Bride was His Church. For a long time she has been carrying heavy burdens, burdens that were not meant for her to bear. She has tried, at times, to carry these burdens alone. It has drained her energy, and pressed her to the ground.
Then the Lord showed me that when these burdens are lifted, the bride is once again able to stand. But the ability to stand in and of itself does not restore the church to what He intended her to be. If she tries to stand on her own, she will remain wilted and easily trampled, like the dandelion.
When the Spirit breathed life into her, she rose up and was restored to the fullness of what God intended her to be. This is likened to when the Holy Spirit moves and revival comes and the bride responds and receives Him. He showed me that we play a vital role in this, as we are His vessles, temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 3:16,
Col 1:27) He told me to breathe on the wilted flower. In this He was showing that we are the ones He uses to release His glory and breathe out His breath of life and bring restoration.
The muddy footprints were from two sources: attacks from the enemy, and from the sins of division, accusation and jealosy. This produced a lack of love, which made the flow of the Spirit null and void. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) These footprints were small. They were not deeply rooted, but new, demonstrated by the fresh, wet mud. These muddy footprints reveal the way the enemy attempts to stop revival. The solution to division is always to repent and bring back the way of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
The old fashioned corset represented the spirit of religion. Fear and excessive control became the corset that bound itself to the torso of the bride. The enemy controlling the corset pulled the strings so tightly that the bride was suffocating. This represents when the Holy Spirit is moving freely, and then the spirit of religion and control comes and tries to shut it down. As restrictions are placed on the breath of life that comes from the Holy Spirit, the bride begins to suffocate and has trouble maintaining and achieving her full potential in Christ. (Mathew 13:22) The solution is to remove the things which restrict the flow of the Holy Spirit, so that the breath of life can flow freely into the body, and bring life to all it's members.
The the Lord spoke to me and said that as we, the church, allow His Spirit to flow freely, we once again become a place of safety. We become a place where people can come and drink from His living water, where Jesus cleanses and purifies through His blood, and where burdens just fall off life scales in His presence. His destiny for the church is that we would become so filled with His life that His glory flows through us and so that all who come in contact with His bride are transformed in His presence.
This morning He gave me this scripture:
"Behold, I am coming soon!
Blessed are those who wash their robes,
that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may go through the gates into the city.
I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to give you this testimony for the churches.
I am the Root and the Offspring of David,
and the bright Morning Star.
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!"
And let him who hears say, "Come!"
Whoever is thirsty, let him come;
and whoever wishes,
let him take the free gift of the water of life."
Revelation 22:12a,13-14,16,-17
Dawn Okpisz
"Rejoicing comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5
Worship Director
Editor & Worship Advisor
Embassy OF Heaven
The past two nights I have been listening to Lesson 3 in School Of The Supernatural by Ryan Wyatt. In this chapter he mentions that we are like an embassy of heaven. For example, if Americans in a foreign country go to the U.S. embassy in that country, the moment they step foot in the embassy, it's as if they have stepped foot onto U.S. soil. All the laws of the United States apply as long as they are inside the embassy. Ryan says the same is true for us as citizens of heaven living on the earth. We are to be embassies of heaven, carrying the glory of God with us and affecting our surroundings, wherever we go. (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Last night I remembered why we chose not to have a basement for the previous 5 years. Not only did we just move to a new residence, but we also just replaced 40-year-old, water damaged paneling on the "dry" side of the basement with brand new drywall. It's a good thing I refused to carpet the basement because last night we were mopping up water. Although the subpump did not fail, a 40 year old window leaked.
I lived in Kansasfor 6 years. Seasonal storms, and especially tornadoes, are pretty much a way of live in that part of the country. Usually I can spot a wall cloud miles away. But yesterday, right about the time the sky went dark and the tornado sirens went off, I had gone upstairs to take a short break. I listened to "On And On, Sounds Of Heaven And Earth" by Ruth Fazal while worshipping quietly in my bedroom. My eyes were closed so I did not see the trees blowing violently outside. I didn't even hear the loud peals of thunder or the crack of lightning striking a nearby tree.
Didn't Jesus do something like this once? His disciples were quite annoyed to find their master sleeping in the bottom of the boat while a storm was raging outside...
All week my children have gone to sports camp in the afternoon. Shortly before we left for camp, my husband called from church. It was a miracle that his call came through because right after his call, phones went out, power was down and even cell phones weren't working. He called to tell me about the tornado warning and asked if we heard the sirens. Of course we immediately went to the basement until the worst of the storm had passed. About an hour later, when the warning had lifted, I left to take the kids to sports camp.
I finally understood the severity of the storm when I saw a tree at church had been split in two and had burn marks typical of a lightning strike. The church building itself was dark except for emergency lights in the hallways & the empty gymnasium, where we found the basketball coach who stayed in the building inform any other oblivious parents like me that practice had been cancelled. It took awhile to find my husband because cell phones were still not working. Once we touched base with him, we returned home.
As we drove into our subdivision, we saw a couple more trees that had been split by lightning, with the same burn marks. There were limbs, leaves, twigs & debris all over the street.
Suddenly, I stopped the car. What I saw took my breath away. In the midst of the debris around the neighborhood, there was one patch of front lawn and one small section of street directly in front of this lawn that was pefectly clear. Very few leaves had fallen and this patch of road was so clean it looked like a street sweeper had come by. I showed it to my children.
It was OUR house.
My son said he had been praying. I told my kids what I was doing the moment the storm started...the reason I did not hear the sirens...because I was worshipping the Lord in my bedroom...
This really drove home for me the teaching by Ryan Wyatt...that we are to be like living embassies of heaven on the earth...temples of the Holy Spirit...and that His presence inside of us affects everything around us...
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors..." 2 Corinthians 5:20
"As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'" Matthew 10:7
Rejoice! For the kingdom of God is here!
Dawn Okpisz
"
|
|
Dawn Okpisz
Open Heaven, Open Eye Vision, and a Dream (Part 1)
May 24, 2007
I was leaving the grocery store when my 9 year old son pointed at the western sky, directly in front of us. This happened around 6:30pm. We were in Dupage county, Illinois. As I waited at a stoplight, my 11 year old daughter and I looked in the direction he was pointing. The sky was dark & grey with storm clouds, but there was a small break in the clouds with a shaft of light coming out of it. All 3 of us could see it. It was due west of us, appearing to be south of the tri-cities area in Kane county. I tried to get my camera phone to work but it wouldn't turn on. My daughter suggested I turn into the parking lot, a little closer to the shaft of light, in order to take a picture.
Once in the parking lot, all 3 of us saw a heavenly creature with the head of a lion moving into the opening of the portal. My son saw the lion too, but he also saw the horn of a bull coming down. While I was still struggling unsuccessfully to get my camera to turn on, we watched the portal close and the light disappear completely.
We immediately called Pastor Theresa to share what we saw. Interestingly she and her husband had seen (the previous day) a hand coming down out of heaven, also from a similar directon, southwest of the tri-cities area in Kane county. She told my son that the bull's horn was used as a shofar to signify whenever healing was "in the camp."
Over the course of next couple hours, the problems and pain I had for close to 2 months in my throat and ears, finally got better. (By the next morning it was completely gone.)
As I prayed with my son that night before bed, a grey glory cloud came between us - along with flashes of light - we could both see them.
Later, as I was going to bed, I had an open eye vision of a brilliant green gemstone on the floor - shining a bright light into the room - I stopped talking with my husband and ran over to pick it up - but when I got to where the light was coming from - I realized it was a vision - because I could not pick it up - the vision lasted about as long as times when I have seen angels with open eyes - the brilliance of this green gemstone was incredible - so bright that it took my breath away.
May 25, 2007
I had a dream early in the morning where I could see the colorful landscape of our region, but it was like I was seeing with spiritual sonar because I could see diamonds buried just beneath the surface of the ground - from a heavenly vantage point - from that vantage point I could see the earth was round and I could see the horizon - but it was like looking through a camera lens zoomed in close on this region - the diamonds were brilliantly shining from just underneath the surface of the earth. Then a some kind of heavenly being, I got the word "delegate," came down from heaven and two lines of people formed in front of him. The "delegate" began handing out these precious stones to them, one at a time. I was led to count the people. There were twelve in each line, 24 total. I heard a voice say "the 12 tribes of Israel," and "the 12 tribes of the nations."
Then I was given these words; "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) Later I was given the lyrics to this well known worship song; "...seeking You as a precious jewel, Lord to give up I'd be a fool, You are my all in all..."
**********************************************************************************************************
This is part 1. Part 2 came a couple days later, and includes more scriptures, as well as some interpretation. I am leaving town in a couple days, and will be gone for almost 2 weeks, so I am not sure I will have time to write up the second part before we leave. But I really felt God wanted me to write and send out "Part 1" right away. If God gives you thoughts/insights/impressions, please do share! Thanks!
Dawn Okpisz | |
