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Several nights ago, I had an interesting dream that is calling believers to reexamine our spiritual foundations. It came in the form of a parable with a lot of prophetic symbolism that I’ve seen consistently in other dreams from years past. I believe this parable in the night is revealing how old belief systems, man-made doctrines, and cultish practices need to be stripped away from our thinking if we are to rightly tune our hearts and minds to God’s standard of truth.
In the dream, I first had a brief impression of the Quran. Then the scene changed and an old college friend of mine brought me his violin as he wanted to play again. (In real life, I used to play violin professionally). But he hadn’t played for quite a while and it wasn’t in tune anymore. I could see the lower two strings dangling off the board and knew it needed some work. So, I began to clean it up and thought it just needed a bit of adjustment and retuning. But as I handed it back to him, I saw that it had actually gone through a massive overhaul. In the dream I had a brief vision of the actual work that needed to be done to reset this instrument.
I saw that it had been caked in old paint that had to be peeled away along with all the old frets. The entire neck board had been stripped in order to bring the instrument back to life. All the old had to be removed to get it down to the bare wood. (I initially wondered why there would be frets since this was a violin.) It was clear that the instrument had been totally refurbished.
I handed it back to my friend who was anxious to try it. It was then I noticed that he was playing it more like a guitar than a violin. And not just any guitar, but a middle eastern stringed instrument as I noted its unusual shape and the elevated headstock (at the end of the fretboard). As he started to play, it was evident that simply tuning it hadn’t been enough. The place where he formed the chords with his fingers was really small and restrictive. Plus, the strings lifted off the end of the neck board to the elevated headstock. His fingers were forced to be lifted off the board to even try and form the chords to play.
I then realized that in order for him to even play correctly, the top bar on the fretboard where the strings had been initially set, had to be moved. I actually had to reset the bar in order for him to play correctly. (End of dream.)
I believe this dream is illustrating what it’s going to take to “reset the bar” for what it actually means to be a Christ-follower and have a viable witness on the earth. The violin/guitar represents our voice and testimony. (Being a violinist, the Lord has often used this imagery in my dreams to draw attention to one’s “voice.”) The Quran sets the context in addressing the foundations of our faith and our witness to the world – what we actually believe and how we testify to those beliefs.
My old friend represents a generation that has established a faulty spiritual foundation on man-made doctrines, false ideologies, and counterfeit belief systems. We have actually lost our witness due to lack of use, as well as failing to stay in tune with God’s standard for truth and righteousness. These faulty mindsets and worldly beliefs have to be stripped away in order to get back to the original foundation of the Word. The bar needs to be reset for what it means to be righteous and holy if we want to be in tune with what God is speaking.
I believe this has to do with the core doctrines of faith. It’s not going to be enough to just get a few strings in tune – like getting baptized in the Spirit or having an encounter – but going back to the core essentials of sound doctrine. What is the gospel – can you explain it? Who is Jesus – really? What is the Kingdom – here and now or sometime in the future? What is our true mission – why are we here? These essentials of our faith will actually determine whether or not we are in tune with God’s heart and ways – and have anything worthwhile to offer the lost.
An interesting detail is that violins don’t have frets. You have to know exactly where to place your fingers in order to play in tune. This only happens through consistent ear training and practice. Where a guitarist simply puts their fingers inside a preset bar to play in tune, a violinist has to train their ear to know exactly where to put their fingers so they play in tune. I believe this indicates that in resetting this bar, God requires us to fine tune our spiritual ears through consistent practice and application and not just something predetermined by others.
The reference to the Quran at the beginning, and then seeing the middle eastern guitar, alerts us to false religions that are gaining a foothold, as well as belief systems that are highly restrictive due to man-made rules (represented by the bars/frets). Not only has our culture embraced counterfeit ideologies, we have opened the door to religious spirits and demonic influence that are robbing us of our identity, purpose, and spiritual authority.
I also noted that the headstock was elevated, rising unnaturally higher than the fretboard. This isn’t standard for guitars and suggests how these religious spirits and cultish leaders wrongly elevate themselves from the Body, causing their followers to lose their grounding (fingers forced to come off the foundation).
I believe the overall message is that the Lord is alerting us to this danger of infiltration from man-made religious cults, mindsets, and beliefs, and calling us back to the foundations of our faith. It’s not enough to simply try and correct wrong practices, address ungodly character, or getting filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to reset the bar for what it actually means to be a true follower of Christ based on the whole of Scripture. We must fine tune our hearing through the Word of God as our standard for life and conduct. And we have to practice these things on a daily basis and apply them personally if we want to be fully in tune with God and His Body.
Does your spirit bear witness with this? What other insights do you believe the Lord might be revealing? In what ways to you think we can reset the bar?
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13 Responses
Thank you so much for your teaching & insight, Wanda, from San Antonio Texas (I’m 74, a retired nurse). 😊
Thank you so much for your teaching & insight, Wanda, from San Antonio Texas (I’m 74, a retired nurse). 😊
Wanda, this is exactly what God has been speaking to me as He has led me into a deep dive into the history of the church from the beginning coming forth. We really got off key with God through Constantine in 312-325 AD and his change from the Hebrew calendar and moving worship to Sunday (sun god) instead of the Sabbath. Then the change to the Gregorian calendar which renamed the months of the year, days of the week after the Roman gods. Holidays to the gods replaced God’s Feast Days. After the Tyndale Bible was printed, truth came out and the Pilgrims left England to follow God’s principles. Of course, we know that over the years our nation and the church have bowed to the dictates of the god of this world and don’t even know truth according to God’s order. It is time that we return to God/Truth as Christians have been deceived and departed from God’s plan. Creeds and traditions have overtaken the Church as it has become an organization rather than a living organism! We must pray for God to pour out His Spirit of Truth upon this nation and the Church to reveal that God is real, God has a plan, God is in control, and God loves us! Thank you for being bold to speak truth! Blessings!
Yes! My spirit bears witness to this word! Some of the false doctrines are subtle. Some are in the songs we sing. Thank you for being a voice to reveal these things.
Thank you for sharing this with us. As I was praying about what is going on in our Country, regarding immigration, deporting illegals. This is the scripture that The Lord gave me. In Exodus 23:32-33. The Word says, or I should say, God says, “Do Not make a covenant with them, or with their gods. Do Not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against Me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.” Our Holy Father God does Not want us(His children) caught in the trap of idolatry.
What I feel is that we need to show rather than tell.
Romans 10:14-17 NKJV
We must speak but without hypocrisy.
[14] How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? [17] So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.10.14-17.NKJ
Yes, I agree. This is a word from the Lord. Returning to “True discipleship” as Jesus role modeled for us, is what I believe, is needed to reset the weak foundation.
Dear Wanda:
Today is September 2nd. I just read “prophetic Dream: Reset the Bar” It is spot on in relation to what our world is like today.
Just this morning in my small group we talked about how we need to remember that God only is the “centerpiece of our faith” our cornerstone.
Let’s take a step back and examine our spiritual roots. Ask God for the discernment you need now and going forward to allow none of the “false” stuff get to you.
Denise E.
Yes, Wanda! This does sound right! Those ideologies, thoughts & attitudes, man made beliefs, religious cults, they are the things that are destroying families as well as the church. Why so many families are torn apart & have to distance themselves from their families. Think what it does to the church! Been there, & it is NO FUN! We had to walk away from our family years back, because of their man made religious cult mindset—“Bill Gothard”! And even our church, (because of what they were doing & no one would confront the problem. At least not till it was too late & the church fell apart. Board members, who were “yes” men, were confronted with something they couldn’t ignore, finally. They still didn’t share with the church what was going on & the church fell apart. That was 5 yrs. after we left. One thing fell apart for us after the other years back, starting with the church, & then family, etc. I understand it was for God to move us away & there we found freedom. But, it was TRAUMATIC, & also for our children. We don’t view the church the same today.
Consider Wanda the Letter to Pergamum, where Jesus is shown wielding a double-edged sword. That letter deals specifically with false doctrine in the church, and Jesus will make war with those with the Sword of His mouth. The emphasis of this letter is to honor the Word of God as the Supreme Authority over our lives. This is in my book: My Letter to You, which I mailed to you.
I found your book on Amazon, I plan to get it soon!
I had to come back on here, Wanda. The night I read this, I was thinking even more about this topic. I also think that it goes back to people not wanting to take responsibility for what they do, & blaming others. The Narcissistic mind-set. They never look at themselves, but think they have to insight into everyone else’s lives, or they’re just blaming others for their issues.