Call It A Dream by Bob Neumann all it a dream if you like, it started out gentle and wondrous. Simply standing in meadow filled with clover and wild flowers. Probably a great place for sheep to munch. It was quiet, serene in fact. All the "stuff" of the world just seamed to melt away as I just kept still and soaked in HIS PEACE. I was awaiting THE SHEPHERD because this certainly looked like prime grazing land. As I waited I could smell the grass and clover, something I had not smelled since very long ago. Then I realized I was smelling the "rain" on the grass. You know that "clean" smell that defies man-made scents. It was then I noticed I was wearing a pair of well worn work boots that were wet from walking through the tall grass and clover. Only I had not been walking, merely standing and being filled by the PEACE of the place. In a while I noticed the setting sun and the cool breeze on my face. It was not my SHEPHERD I was waiting for it seems. Yet I was in neither a garden or a vineyard and this was not HIS THRONE ROOM, but it did not matter. It had been so long since I had walked with my ABBA, or even heard HIS VOICE. It had been near YOM KIPPUR since I sat with HIM last. So I waited and just "rested" for what seemed a long time. Afternoon had passed into twilight and the light slowly faded. Darkness and ABBA had never been points that came together so I pondered what it all was leading to. Not for the first time I rebuked myself for thinking too much and being impatient. Waiting and watching still does not come easily. Slowly I noticed a new scent in the night breeze, a breeze no longer cool. Chilly is more accurate. Yet I could smell HIM. A mixture of jasmine and fruit blossoms is best I can describe. Stronger than apple or pear, more subtle than orange. Light like lemon but unmistakably unique. As I waited the scent became stronger and it seems HE stepped over a hill I had not noticed and was strolling toward me. When I first walked with HIM in HIS VINEYARD I saw the WISE AND CAREFUL FATHER who tended THE VINE. More recently I have seen HIM as THE ANCIENT OF DAYS WHOSE WORDS SHAPED AND DIRECTS THE UNIVERSE. But now all I saw was my ABBA, who I suddenly missed terribly. And like the Prodigal, HE received me with open arms and tender words. After a time I now think as so short, HE simply said, "WALK WITH ME.". We walked casually in the direction of HIS CHOOSING and after awhile came to THE RIVER and THE GARDEN. We sat down on a stone bench where THE RIVER moved with a strong current. We sat quietly as I watched THE WATER CHURN and LISTENED to the TORRENT. At the same time I felt THE BREEZE pick up and it too had a SOUND. It was engrossing, the sound and the feel and the sight of it all. Then I began to feel the beginning mist of a night rain. The rain I could smell, and hear, and feel, and taste. It was a cold rain. The slow steady rain that a dry land cries for. THE RAIN... THE WIND... THE RIVER are all images of HIS MOST HOLY SPIRIT... HIS BREATH that GIVES LIFE. I wondered if I was understanding whatever message I was to learn when a flash of LIGHTNING and A ROLE OF THUNDER shook the sky above us. SPRING STORM came into my spirit man as I looked into HIS FACE and saw GENTLE PEACE smile upon me. "SON", HE began, "YOU FELT THE BREEZE BEFORE YOU HEARD IT. YOU SAW THE RIVER BEFORE YOU HEARD IT. BUT YOU SAW AND HEARD AND SMELLED AND TASTED AND FELT THE STORM AS IT BEGAN. EVEN IN THE DARKNESS YOU KNEW THE STORM WAS HERE. THOSE WHO KNOW THE BREEZE KNOW THE STORM FOLLOWS. THERE ARE MANY BREEZES JUST AS THERE ARE MANY CURRENTS IN THE RIVER." "MY SPIRIT EBBS AND FLOWS IN AND AROUND MY CHILDREN WITHOUT STOP. LIKE THE TIDE IT HAS HIGHS AND LOWS WHICH THOSE WHO STUDY MY WAYS CAN FOLLOW WITHOUT TROUBLE. THE WISE SERVANTS ARE STUDENTS WHO KNOW THE SUNRISE AND THE SUNSET, THE NEW MOON AND THE FULL MOON. THOSE WHO HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES KNOW WHEN MY SPIRIT FLOWS AND WHEN IT IS HELD. ANTICIPATING MY WILL PLEASES ME, ATTEMPTING TO ORCHESTRATE AROUND IT DOES NOT." "SPONTANEITY AND DIVERSITY I GREATLY ENJOY. VAIN REPETITION AND CONTRIVED MANIPULATION I HAVE NEVER ASKED FOR. WATCH THE CHILDREN AND YOU WILL SEE THAT THE YOUNGEST ARE THE FREEST AND THE MOST SIMPLE AND SINCERE." With that HE STOOD and looked out upon THE RIVER. As I watched THE RIVER slowly widened and flowed faster. I watched as THE MIGHTY RIVER churned and the waters turned white and frothy. I thought that I was watching a flood begin and HE CORRECTED me. "THIS IS NOT A FLOOD, SHEMUEL, FOR A FLOOD LEAVES IT'S BANKS AND IS UNCONTROLLED. THIS IS THE RIVER THAT FLOWS FROM THE MOUNTAIN, ALIVE AND WITH POWER. WHERE MANY STREAMS COME SUDDENLY TOGETHER TO MAKE ONE. THE RIVER SPEAKS TO THE SPIRITS WHO DRINK OF THE LIVING WATER. YOUR SPIRIT AND ALL THOSE WHO HAVE EATEN AND DRANK OF MY SON. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BORN OF MY SPIRIT WILL BE AS ONE TOGETHER AS I AND MY SON ARE ONE. HE PRAYED THAT THIS WOULD BE SO AND MADE ACCESS FOR YOU AND ALL MY CHILDREN TO WALK WITH ME AND BE ONE WITH ME. I HONOR HIS PRAYER AS HE HONORED ME AND DRANK THE CUP AND BORE THE INIQUITY OF ALL MEN". "SO WHY SON DO SO FEW SEEK TO WALK WITH ME?" The answer "bubbled up" out of my spirit man as easily as breathing. "Because they have not followed HIM to the place of their death, ABBA." "WHY WOULD THEY NOT FOLLOW HIM AS HE HAS ASKED?" "They have not been taught, ABBA," I answered quickly. "YES, SON, THEY WERE NOT TAUGHT, BUT WHO TAUGHT YOU?" And I suddenly "caught" it. "You did ABBA", I replied quietly. "YES, SON... AND NO. THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW AND HEARD ME WAS IN MY VINEYARD. REMEMBER TO COME TO ME IS THROUGH MY SON. TO FIND MY SON YOU MUST HEAR MY SPIRIT WHO WHISPERS LIKE THE BREEZE AND ROARS LIKE THUNDER. WE ARE ONE, AND WE ARE MORE. THEY DO NOT FOLLOW BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HEAR. MANY WHO DO HEAR CHOOSE NOT TO LISTEN. THEN MANY WHO LISTEN HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO OBEY. THESE ARE THE ONES WHO SPEAK MY NAME FREELY AND SERVE THEMSELVES." With that last statement ABBA turned away from THE RIVER and I stood in that place between time and space. Before me stood the KING OF GLORY who stood quietly. Yet I could still feel ABBA'S PRESENCE and hear HIS VOICE and smell HIM. Sort of out of nowhere I "heard" a section of a post about the Grammy awards and the performance of certain rock stars. I had paid little attention to the posts and the confusion on the Internet about the translation of a Spanish name and certain lyrics. I had not "felt" THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT and had basically ignored it. Then ABBA asked, "WHY WERE THEY WATCHING THIS?"... and I had no answer. I thought of all the useless things I have seen and done and had no excuse for myself, so I answered, "I don't know, LORD." Immediately came a second question, but this time it was from THE KING and it was in the VOICE OF COMMAND. "WHAT VALUE TO MY KINGDOM DO I RECEIVE FROM SERVANTS WHO WATCH/INVOLVE THEMSELVES IN SUCH ACTIVITY?" With that, I got rocked down to my toes for I know how little fruit comes from keeping your face and mind in BABYLON AND EGYPT. Like the ex-slaves in the wilderness who kept their idols and passed them on to their children, ignoring the same commandments they told MOSES they would obey. I realized how hypocritical I am because I still do things that are dead and fruitless. Again I answered, "I don't know". then I heard that sweet gentle VOICE whisper in my spirit man, "HOW DOES THIS EXHORT, COMFORT, AND INSTRUCT THE CHILDREN AND YOUNGER SERVANTS I HAVE PLACED IN YOUR CARE?" Suddenly I felt a grief inside because I took this personally. In the last few weeks I have been angered and simply irked by much of what has gone on within the "prophetic community". The deluge of bizarre and unscriptural anecdotes that were labeled as "prophetic" and "anointed" had left me jaded and without compassion. In my spirit was one ugly term and it fitted me to a T....hubris [excessive pride, arrogance]. I looked at MY KING and I felt HIS SADNESS. I could have/should have done better. I could have tried harder and not tried to ignore these things. Yet even now I do not know what I could have done. But I had not asked HIM anything more than whether it was a fight HE wanted me to join. HE SAID "NO", and I had dropped it. I had looked at it as just a battle between "spirits" and forgotten that HIS SHEEP were in the crossfire. I had forgotten that HIS SHEEP come first. The next thing I knew I was falling... not far... into a dark place of muck and mire. Two things were obvious... I was naked... and I was not alone. The muddy water was almost waist deep and the stench of death and rot was pervasive. The sense of "deja vu" was strong... I had been here before. But things were different. The last time here I was the aggressor... armed and armored. A table had been turned, and I was not going to get through this in my flesh. I could hear, but the noises came from all directions. I could smell, but everything stank. I could see, but I was in utter darkness. So I closed my eyes and waited... and prayed. There was nowhere to run, and the only ONE who could get me out had put me here for HIS REASONS. So begging for forgiveness only went so far. A lesson had to be learned the "hard" way. As I prayed the "panic" slowly receded and I "felt a breeze", as crazy as that sounds. And a song came to my spirit and I recalled who sends THE GENTLE BREEZE, and I began to "see" in HIS SPIRIT. And I remembered... and I waited. It came slowly and quietly, yet I saw and heard it as it circled me. It chose to attack from the back. Good tactics if the prey is unknowing and unexpecting. Somewhere along the lyrics of that song, I had remembered whose I am and who I serve. I am not the prey. I am a predator. I thought it was a snake, and I felt at peace and centered. I attacked. The last thing it appeared to expect. In the second heaven I had "encountered" snakes before. This one differed in three ways. First it was a whole lot bigger than any snake that had slithered in the natural. The head was a good foot and a half wide. I had hold of it below the head and it was too big around for my hands to control. So I locked it between elbow and chest. It was writhing in the muck that I noticed the second difference... it spoke to me. It was neither subtle nor enticing. Enraged is more accurate. And then the third difference... it had claws... several pairs I would guess. It was hard to count, but they were sharp. When it became apparent that I could not break the beast's neck, it began to mock my efforts. It basically did all the "talking" and I got more than an earful about it's invulnerability and the outcome I would have. About that time I thought how nice it would have been to have a short sword again and it sort of read my mind, and mocked my "nakedness", that I had been put here to be punished for my pride and disobedience. Now that was a lie... as were the comments of being forsaken and condemned... and somewhere in my spirit man I thought, "why am I here", and the old line about "can you take what you dish out" sort of flowed on by. So I let go with my right hand and thought, "HAMMER/ANVIL," and began pounding it's eyes. I had never heard a demon scream before. From that point on, the thrashing and writhing and clawing had one goal... to escape being pounded. How long I kept it up I do not know. How much actual damage I caused I could not tell. But after awhile the thrashing slowed and I "sensed" we were not alone. Others were joining the "party". in my spirit. I know there were at least two others. Their approach was stopped when I let go of the first "beast". It slithered away and I stood still and waited. The "others" kept their distance as I caught my breath. After a while of this I suddenly was back in that place "between" and THE KING stood waiting. HE stood casually watching me, arms across HIS CHEST. "WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED, DOG?", HE asked. If anyone tells you that you do not feel pain in dreams and visions, they have only had nice ones. My body ached and my arms felt like lead. Even now I really do not know what I learned in all this. In time, I pray I will. What I was then told is sufficient. "IMAGINE DOG, THAT ALL THOSE WHO TRUST IN BABYLON AND TURN TO EGYPT ARE IN THE SAME CONDITION YOU FOUND YOURSELF IN-- NAKED, DEFENSELESS, AND IN THE DRAGON'S DOMAIN. ALL WHO TRUST IN MAN AND THIS WORLD, NO MATTER THEIR TITLES OR POSITIONS, WILL FIND THEMSELVES FACING THE DRAGON OF THE NILE WITHOUT HOPE. BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO USE FOR PRAYERS NOW, THEIR PRAYERS THEN WILL NOT BE HEARD". On hearing that I got a chill then, and a chill now as I type this. I wondered about the fact I survived the encounter, and HE ANSWERED, "THE ENEMY IS BY NATURE A COWARD. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS STAND AND RESIST. YOU'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR YEARS, OLD DOG. WOLVES AND SNAKES LIKE CHEAP EASY MEALS. THEY PREY ON THE WEAK AND DEFENSELESS, THE UNKNOWING AND UNDISCERNING. OLD DOGS LIKE YOU ARE EXACTLY WHAT THEY DO NOT WANT TO RUN INTO. DEAD MEN TAKE THEIR TOLL ON THE ENEMY'S SCHEMES." HE looked at me with that quiet grin of HIS, knowing I had a question in the back of my mind. "ARE YOU EAGER TO FACE THE OTHER DRAGONS, DOG?" "No LORD," I replied, "but will I have a sword when I do?" "YOU SEEMED TO DO WELL ENOUGH WITHOUT YOUR KEVLAR BOXERS"... now that was funny. But I was not happy about letting the one get away-- and I told HIM so. "DOG", HE began, "YOU CANNOT KILL THESE DRAGONS, IN SPITE OF THE COMMON OPINIONS. YOU CANNOT KILL DEMONS. ALL THOSE CUTE IDEAS OF CHOPPING AND DICING THE DEMONIC IS JUST THAT-- CUTE IDEAS AND NOT IN MY WORD." At that point I began to wonder what had happened in the past. "THOSE UNHAPPY ENOUGH TO HAVE ENCOUNTERED YOU IN EITHER THE FIRST OR SECOND HEAVEN ARE NO LONGER THERE. THEY AWAIT THEIR CHANCE TO RETURN TO THESE REALMS FOR THE LAST BATTLES." Suddenly I realized HE was speaking of THE ABYSS, the place of incarceration, far less than the LAKE OF FIRE. HE NODDED and we talked for awhile longer... and I woke up. Selah Shemuel aka, Old Dog