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Last night, or was it early this morning, I had a brief dream of a man sitting in a jail cell, and Jesus was walking right outside the cell, in full view of the man. I understood that the man was in "his own prison" and Jesus was waiting for the man to come on out of it, understanding being the key. Of what a relationship with Christ is about. Real understanding. The man sat there with his head down inside the cell and said something about how it's "only exciting when..." He was rationalizing Christianity in his mind and pondering the things about it that he liked, thinking of reasons to approve and disapprove of it. And all the while there was Jesus, pacing? Right outside the cell.

So of course this has been on my mind ever since I've woken up. I prayed about it and I don't know what else to say, other than simply tell you what I saw. Everyone has to work it out on their own and seek Him on their own.

I can say this however. The man in the cell said something about "excitement". Which made me think of how some people can get easily sidetracked with all the spiritual aspects of Christianity, especially the prophetic. How some people see it as some kind of holy magic show and can't wait for the next exciting revelation or dream or word of knowledge, and the excitement and rush when it comes to pass or when it lines up with your own world. I visited a prophetic website one time and sensed that it was being used like a tarot reading, even by Christians. Some people check in for the wrong reasons. We have to remember that the gifts of the Spirit are tools to help one another out, the purpose being to edify one another and encourage one another. The gifts are tools for His people. The gifts themselves are not to be glorified. Which brings to mind a vision I had a few years ago: I saw a gorgeous colorful arrow, I held it in my hands and admired it, turning it over and over and examining it and cherishing it. I knew in my spirit that this was a reminder, that we are not to admire the tools (weapons!)- just use them. I was convicted by this vision at the time, it was when my dreams and visions were first starting to happen on a more frequent basis and I admit I was caught up in the whole excitement of it all. This is another trick of the enemy so watch out. Everything has to be kept in it's proper place. Nothing should be more important to us than our everyday walk with Christ. It's that simple. Beware of things that tickle your spiritual fancy. How did I stray from the subject? I was trying to explain my man in the jail cell dream. Actually to be honest it wasn't a dream, it was a brief vision, and not only that but it was shown to me just like a cartoon. It looked like a New Yorker cartoon, black and white, single panel, drawn sketchy and what the man was saying was shown as a caption, in quotes, at the bottom. And ya'll wonder why I am so in love with God. He is hillarious with me and He gets His points across to me in the most funny ways. He shows me pictures most of the time instead of long drawn-out speeches. He babies me. I love Him.

wait

Did any of this make sense? I don't know what else to say about it.

My uncle is in the hospital on a ventilator and they are running tests on him today to determine whether or not they should go ahead and pull the plug. He overdosed last night on his medications on purpose. He's mentally ill and he's struggled for a long time. I might get to go see him this evening.