My employer responded, "Because, I'm Iranian. They won't let me in your darn country!"
Mr. Sharron replied, "I know people, I can get you in!"
My boss was quite excited when he shared this dream. He marveled saying,"Imagine me on a first name basis with the head of the Holy Land!"
Although certain that this strange dream had significant meaning, he didn't understand. Being Persian he had often expressed absolute contempt for Ariel Sharron. So this dream was both curious and perplexing to him to say the least.
"What do you think this means?" he asked. In utter amazement, he continued, "Imagine me on a first name basis with Ariel Sharron and him inviting me into the Holy Land!"
Praying silently for a moment as I pondered the dream, I heard the small voice within me say, "What do you think the Holy Land symbolizes?"
That, of course, was symbolic for heaven. The "head of the holy land," therefore, would be symbolic of the Lord. Immediately I became aware of the parallel between Sharon and God for he had not spoken any more reverently about God than he had about Ariel Sharon. The interpretation was simply that God was inviting him into His kingdom.
When I gave him the interpretation, which I had written a little later, I added, in closing, " by the way, God's first name is Jesus."
This Middle Eastern man who was extremely secular and full of prejudice regarding Christianity was instantly humbled and stunned by the reality of this divine offer. He sat quietly with tears forming as he pondered this amazing dream.
He tucked the interpretation into his briefcase, where he kept it for many months.
Often throughout the days that followed this experience, he would sit at his desk and shake his head with the wonder of this divine encounter.
Taken up to Heaven
Just a few weeks later he had another dream that was so astounding that I became envious.
In the dream a older gentleman came to him. He described in great detail how warm and kind this man was. There was even kindness in his eyes. This gentleman said to my boss, "You want to know what heaven is like? I'll show you what heaven is like. Come with me."
Instantly he was taken up to an amazing place.
He described the colors, unlike any he had ever seen, the amazing sounds of heavenly music, unlike anything ever heard. He wept as he described how wonderful it felt to be in this place, The details he shared with sincere emotion were too amazing to have been fabricated. He admittedly wanted to remain there in that place because of the indescribable peace and love that he had experienced.
"I didn't want to come back here," he repeated as he shared this incredible story.
The demeanor of this man, whom I've known for over 12 years, and his tears of wonder, could not have been any less than genuine. He was obviously awestruck by this experience.
The Visitation
On a third occasion a few months later as my boss was sitting alone in his den, after his family had fallen asleep, he felt a "being" enter into the room. It was very large as he describes it, "as though it took up the entire room." He was awestruck by how "good it felt" to be in the presence of this "being."
He reported that he began to laugh hysterically and buried his face in a pillow, to avoid waking the household. After 10 or 15 minutes the laughter subsided and he began to weep as "the being" began to show him all of his sins. He wept profusely for some time as he asked forgiveness repeatedly. This presence remained with him for about 5 hours and he did not want to leave the room for fear "the presence" would leave him. Later when he recanted this amazing experience to me weeping as he said, "He showed me all of my sins. I didn't know, they were sins but I saw them all and I just kept asking him to forgive me over and over again. I was so sorry."
This man, who had grown up in a country where religious oppression had hardened his heart to religion of any kind, needed a personal invitation and a supernatural experience to break through the hard protective barrier, in his heart.
The Holy Spirit knowing that he would reject religion also knew that that he could not resist relationship and the manifest love of God. So this deliberate pursuing romantic nature of God began to woo him with dreams and invitations and supernatural experiences that overcame his prejudices.
He is now a believer and has begun his own relationship with the Holy Spirit.
This passionate and persevering love that hunts us down and overtakes us with holy affection is the heart of the Holy Spirit.
Divine Pursuit
God is love. He is the personification of love and the source of all love. Being love itself this Holy God created you to become His friend and partner in a loving relationship. He created mankind for this very purpose. He has love overflowing and needs those who are willing to be recipients of this love.
The Holy Spirit is an ambassador sent to earth to draw us into that relationship with the Father and the Son that we may receive that love.
Granted it is difficult to believe that a Supreme Being could possibly desire relationship with us in our present condition. Being no strangers to our own weaknesses and blemishes we simply cannot comprehend why a holy God would want friendship with us.
Good news! We are not required to understand this amazing concept. He desires relationship with you so much that He was willing to die to have the pleasure of a personal relationship with you. That is the reason that Jesus came to earth as a man and died on a cross, taking all of your human weakness, sin, and shame to the grave with Himself. His life was lived without compromise in your behalf. He traded your sin for His perfection so that He and the Father could enter into such a divine friendship with you. It was by the power if the Holy Spirit that Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended once again to heaven to be with the Father and to begin this relationship with us that He paid for on the Cross. Its an incredibly good deal once we began to accept and enjoy this relational nature of God.
