The following is the Foreword of the upcoming release, Trinity: A Novel by Dawn Dyson
[Copyright pending; published by Mercy Sky, LLC]
If truth is stranger than fiction, sanctification is stranger than truth. There is a point where all of it is woven together, like a wheel, so it can move (Eze 1:16, 19, 20, 21; 10:17; Rev 4:3)[1] and God can speak through it. We cry out for wholeness in our lives, another word for salvation or healing,[2] not realizing that every stained glass window is made up of tiny pieces, once broken and disarrayed on the floor. The story and the light is the work of the Master. He builds His own churches into astonishingly beautiful things where one can sense His presence in the stone and mortar (2 Sam 7:5, 11; John 14:2). No one else can do it (Eze 36:36). You are His temple, His church—you are where He dwells. His dedicated, meticulous and patient architecture is astonishing, but first there is a juncture in which your version falls and He rebuilds His own (Eze 13:14, 17:24; Matt 12:40, 26:61; 1 Cor 6:19; Rom 9:21; Heb 3:4, 11:10, 12:2). He will remove you from a false lord to Himself as your partner, covering, husband, etc., in essence, proving Himself your legal counselor (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1; Matt 5:17)[3] in order that nothing be between you. It is somewhat central to the timeline (your lifetime), so realize you are not late. You are on time. It is orchestrated to the second. Further, there is a biblical pattern which functions like a map or a compass during your transition.[4] In essence, with the strange sanctifying work of God, we will see His character revealed and we must accept it because He is the Truth (Is 28:21).
At the destructive onset of the most beautiful scenes you will ever witness, there comes a flailing, yet in God, but it is a place where you have no bearings, no grounding. Everything is foreign and the sun does not shine. What you thought was your world is torn from you—pieces of soul seem to go with it. Here the most basic elements of what you once considered yourself break away from your grasp. “Completely out of control,” you may say of your state. You cannot keep hold of a thing, so you pray that you are kept, and that by the Holy One. You have nowhere else to go (John 6:66-68, 7:53-8:11, 21:18; Matt 8:20; Rev 2:13; Luke 15:4). Phrases come to mind and this is where He starts the rebuild—with simple words on whispers coming from your interior chamber, the place where He lives. “Go out into the deep water.” “Listen to Me…” Some of these statements don’t conclude, or land, for stretches of time. We want to obey, yet His will seems so far above our ability to accomplish it. It is nearly impossible to take anything for granted in this state of flux because it seems there is nothing to hold on to but His Word, read and spoken interchangeably. He teaches revelation and whispers indications personally. Though you have lost your natural strength and most of your earthen will at these points, yes, you can hear from God. The once familiar seems but vapor—you don’t know where you are, or how you got to this place. All you are left with in the natural world is offense or faith. And all you can do is wait to see if God is really real in your individual case. You may wonder…
Does the Lord still save? Am I still chosen by Him? What is the point of this much pain in the center of a saint’s life? Did I do something wrong?
My goal is to comfort and encourage you through this place that is dreadful for a saint. It passes. God knows what He is doing. Note, even the Psalms have ups and downs—this is how He teaches us to pray. Stay with it. It will exercise your soul until you are a warrior. You are learning each day. Slowly, your will, emotions, and heart will return for you. Your eyes will yet shine. There is a literal temple at the same time that there is a spiritual Temple (2 Sam 7:4-17). What God builds has no expiration date! His work is eternal—so your relationships, career, and home will be a surety if done in His Name. He will parallel the blessings and remold your clay as well (spiritual and literal houses, families and lands; answered prayer; goodness). Matthew Henry eludes at the end of the book of Job, upon entrance into the Psalms, “…[T]hat they might continue in his family, to be a stay and blessing to it, he made them co-heirs.”[5] In other words, it is the tossing of the sea that makes us stable-souled. The anchor is hope. The difficulty of our echo of Job’s extreme life transition of losing houses, families, and lands, only to withstand and be graced by God at the end, leads us to such a perceptual, emotional shift that we come out praying like David did.
What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lords’ goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord: be brave… - Psalm 27:13-14a (emphasis, mine)
Apply this to yourself. Believe it. Know that it is likely no small consideration by the church fathers to place the canon in this order (Job, Psalms). The tremendous afflictions and blessings of Job lead us to pray like a king! These elements—affliction and emotional, visual, personal prayer—make us shepherds under Him (John 21:17). We are being written as the Word is being written on us (2 Cor 3:1-3). It is time that God gets His story out of you and me. He is our God and He should get what He wants. Strange as it seems, the temple fall, or the seed dying, is how He answers our prayer! It is colossal when the Lord moves. It doesn’t seem good, initially, but just wait. The change is a lot to absorb, but He does move heaven and earth in order that His will and your will come into sync. Tables will turn in your case (Matt 21:12-14). You will be endowed with an unsurpassable propensity to trust the One who saved your life once you can fully grasp that that is what He has done (Is 43:4, 12-14, 52:4; AMPC). He has ways to repair the losses and balance the griefs; He will make you a stay, so that you may yet say, “It is good to be here.”[6]
The Bible is uncontainable, much like life, and God is Sacred. The goal of my existence as a writer is to reflect these sacred occurrences of His upon a story so that we can take the size of the Lord somewhat in to our souls, in order to be effective for Him here. For, like Jonah, we are expressly asked to stand and proclaim the Name of the Lord in a relatively short period of time after whatever form of a belly we were ousted from! Perception is powerful. And, where we once may have had forty years to wander and wonder, we now have eleven days, so to speak, to decide what we will do with it. Time is of the essence because there are souls at stake. After the Baptism of the Holy Ghost you are His preacher. This is as plain as I can make it. It’s a sudden, dramatic and unmistakable shift. Holy Ghost comes at this level as the precursor to ministry (Acts 2; Matt 4:1, 17). Jonah illustrates a person called to minister who did not perceptually make the transition to come into full agreement with God’s will. Everything around Jonah changed and God became much closer and more prominent to him. God is a lot for us to handle. He is infinite and uncontainable; His ways are unfathomable. And yet, He wants to communicate through us (Hab 2:1-4; Rev 1:11). The strong suggestion is that we agree with whatever He wants (John 2:5). Have a visual prayer life. Keep the vision in front of you (Prov 4:24-26). Be kind.
Be kind to God.
Proverbs 23:7 says, For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost]. Firstly, think with the mind of Christ who said, I decide as I am bidden to decide (John 5:30). Basically, this means, Lord, whatever is in Your mind, whatever You want, let’s do that. Proverbs 23:7 instructs us that our heart and minds need to line up. If you love Christ, believe in Christ—agree in your mind. When we love Christ in our hearts and yet doubt His words, promises, or capabilities in our minds—this is a divided house. The Bible calls this being double-minded and it will stifle us (Jas 1:5-8; Mark 11:23; Ps 119:113). If you have been called to ministry and you are miserable, check that you are of one, stable mind about it. The heart feeling and core decision of love and one’s thoughts must coexist harmoniously for soul peace. Secondly, do not take offense at Christ, or God, for doing what He needed to do to save you in your particular case (Matt 11:6; Luke 7:23; 1 Pet 4:9-14). No matter how furious, unfair, shocking, expensive, embarrassing, or traumatic it was, in your heart of hearts you know He saved you. Your heart knows. Watch for cynicism, excessive fear, doubt, negative people (including self), abusive, destructive self-talk, or a lack of holy imagery. Relinquish, relinquish, relinquish. Whatever God asks you to let go of, He has something amazing in store for which you presently do not have the room because it is that large and that good! Dream again—more vividly, more expansively and watch with the eyes of child at Christmastime. You have been moved; you are a Queen. Your response is love, extreme gratefulness, and some sort of ministry through which to express it in joy (defined by His call/your divine purpose). He will make a way for you.
Pain makes the Lord His Preacher—of the two, the preaching is what lasts. Purification makes His saint—again, the saint and the purity is what is eternal, the sin is gone. Queen-ship is earned through the strangest battles, but she is kept beautiful in the end and her place is secure. She is the one who sits beside Him on His throne. The vision must be kept in front of us to finish the story well. Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish (Prov 29:18a). Visions help redeem us when they are connected to God’s revelation. How do you see heaven, the world, and yourself between them? Is it from God’s perspective? Does your perception line up with the way your True Love looks at you? Look Him in the eye when you pray. My prayer for anyone reading this is that you would taste and see and come to know how much Jesus Christ really loves you (Ps 34:8; Rom 8:28, 35-39; Eph 3:16-21).
I’d (naively, I’m sure) sometimes like to be the sort of writer who could outline the entire story before she sat down to write it. But we write like we live—ever forward, like breath; without a clue what’s coming. We are placed on a dock staring into the mist and sea, waiting for what we believe to emerge through a faint, white outline of conjured hope. Will He walk into our actual world again? Authenticity only is worthy of the ink which bled from the vein of the last oak tree. Be it unto you as you believe... What is that, in your case? What on earth is a crisis of this magnitude for? According to Vine’s Dictionary, krisis (crisis, in English):
…[P]rimarily denotes ‘a separating,’ then, ‘a decision, judgment,’ most frequently in a forensic sense (having to do with court, legal proceedings and disputes)[7], and especially of divine ‘judgment’. The Holy Spirit, the Lord said, would convict the world…of the actuality of God’s ‘judgment,’ (John 16:8, 11…). The Day of the Lord is a period of divine judgment (Rev 1:10).[8]
Look at that first line more closely. A crisis denotes a separation, then a decision (John 6:66, 67). God already decided, or the crisis of separation wouldn’t have come (Matt 27:51). Now you decide, as the separated, if you will follow Him or take offense (Matt 11:6; Deut 30:19). Why is it this hard? What is He up to? A novel, a narrative, a story, is impossible to write without a central crisis for the characters to either perish or survive from. Relationships, in a novel, intertwine and unravel if they are not right. The counterfeit must be released so the genuine can come home. Any Disney movie suggests the evil one and all the discord goes as the white knight enters.[9]
Noah Webster defines crisis this way: to separate, to determine, to decide; in medical science, it is the change of a disease which indicates its event, that change which indicates recovery or death.[10] Illness and health both intensify in a fight for life or death until the house (body) cannot hold that battle and it surfaces. Both references above use the word, separation (2 Cor 6:17). In the event, in which God decides the timing and the detail, we are exposed and grace is temporarily removed from us as we are removed from the situation. As we are driven from the “house of Saul” (type of ill-authority) (Exod 11:1; 1 Sam 27:4; 2 Sam 3:1; Ps 57:1) we are rescued and recovered by the Lord Christ Himself. Fall into His arms. Noah goes on to quote Dryden, “This hour’s the very crisis of your fate.”[11] Destiny is in the Lord’s providential palm and we can rest on the leather cushion in the boat with Jesus while we are moved (Mark 4:38).
As is easily seen in these two references above, a “crisis” is central to a life. It is a moment of divine intervention where which the subjects are separated, or consecrated, and purified by trial in a matter of life or death. Court systems, legal disputes, and medical science all flutter around this event. To put it plainly, divorces and illnesses are common here. The Bible calls it several potential things: the temple fall; the seed dying; the house divided; giving up houses, families, and lands; Jonah’s whale; the book of Job; the book of Ruth; Isaiah’s gates; going to the other side; hurricanes or natural storms; tetelestai; the Old and New Testament split (John 2:20-22; John 12:24; Mark 3:25; Matt 19:29; Is 62:10; Mark 4:35, 37; John 19:28, 30). This symbolic overlapping has occurred since Abraham was asked to go for his own advantage away from all he knew (Gen 12:1) and it continues to the point where you were asked to do the same in your lifetime. It can feel and seem the polar opposite of “advantageous”, but give God His time. Saints do not circumvent the Exodus, any more than the 40-year wilderness. The Bible is really this real. The question, now, is how do you perceive the Promised Land effectively enough to actually enter it?
The Promised Land is a place and time to realize the promises of God but, primarily, it is your platform and assurance to preach the Gospel.
One must believe to enter. If the book of Job is this true to life so are all the promises! He was a godly man asked to give up houses, families and lands while stricken with physical illness and financial trouble in order to come to see God, pray for his friends (minister), and be restored. For another example, Ruth was “gleaning in the fields” quite literally (Ruth 2:3), but this is also a metaphor for being a woman in ministry if one correlates it to gleaning or harvesting in the New Testament (John 4:35; Luke 10:2; Matt 9:37), in consideration of her bloodline (lineage of Jesus). If we relinquish what the Lord requires, with a good attitude and a faith-filled outlook, in His name, the reward will be full (Matt 19:29) both for the Lord and for our case.
Stories, or parables, help our souls (mind, will, emotions) process what has happened in our lives both spiritually and literally. They help us create a vision (visual prayers). This is a requirement in getting back up after a temple fall of this magnitude. I sincerely hope this book helps you heal as you perceive “the change”, as Noah Webster puts it. He mentions this twice as if he is scrambling to define the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire that is so central to our Christian existence (crisis/judgment of God/purification trial which results in blessing). God is our Author, and as an author, I know that it is nearly impossible to write a decent novel without a central crisis or some sort of climax. We each have a life story and try as we may to avoid the difficulty, life just comes out richer with something big to overcome—this is character development in God’s hands. A parable perspective helps us process the reality of things like divorce or illness. The spirit, or inner man, must get up first and the body or circumstance will follow. If you are in this transitory place, my personal advice is this: one, choose Christ here fully again and do not take offense in Him or the Father’s methods (John 6:48-67), for God will reward you eternally for your temporary suffering (Matt 19:29); two, go with the Script (read the Word and listen to His Voice—His spoken Word to you), there is no other victorious route here so do not be dismayed (Rev 21:7); three, get up for the sake of others and have an eternal Throne-room vision (Rev 3:12, 21). If you did not die, you are living at this point to win Him souls (Acts 27; 28:1). Go ahead and do it. Reestablish your love relationship with Jesus. He will embrace you. He wants you to trust Him again. Here is some relief from which to breathe:
Speak tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her time of service and her warfare are ended, that [her punishment is accepted and] her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received [punishment] from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:2).
Jesus paid for all of it. He paved the way so you could survive it, but we do follow in a type of it in order to learn Him. We will be toured through the Old Testament, but the point is He is holding your hand and will bring you to the New. Jesus our Christ will Himself do it. He will come to you. You will resurface proclaiming His Name and His Mercy. The seed splits in two when it dies, a reflection of the veil torn top to bottom. It includes your heart, soul, and mind, but you rise up to the surface by adopting the whole mind, heart and will of Christ implicitly. Ministry is not for the double-minded (James 1:2-9; some versions state double-souled), but for the determined in loyalty and obedient service to the Lord (Eze 24:24). Set your mind and keep it set (Col 3:2)! The Lord makes you happy and strong. He can do no wrong in my eyes—this is the mindset by the time He is finished with this extreme method. Trust Him. I am the Lord, there is no one else (Isa 45:5, 6, 18; 46:9; Acts 4:12). Believe it. Even after all this, He is excessively kind.
My prayer is that this novel illustrates a parable-version of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire for you so you can reflect the vision onto your case. God is colossal and when He enters your life at this level, there is much change required due to the extreme holiness residing in and around you. Welcome to ministry! Indeed, there is NOTHING the Lord cannot do.
The order of the white horse changes us, a Jeshurun of Him does emerge valiantly through the mist (Deut 33:26; Is 44:2; Rev 19:11-16). Dreams come true (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). We echo the argument in the eastern sky, arch to arch, and we are to go through it like the gate of Isaiah, where there is an army on each side. Love cannot separate. We move closer to Him and Him to us. The premise of our veneration is to remove the stones of offense and build up the highway for the sake of the other souls travailing and traversing the double realm (Is 62:10; Eph 6:12). This is possible, if we open the door, or gate, when our Love knocks upon it—do we invite Him in; do we listen (Rev 3:19-21; Song 5:2; Matt 7:7-8; Rev 1:18; Is 22:20-23)? We are to write and speak in inspirations and visions that build souls up like the mortar that holds the freestones of the new Temple together forever. Thy will be done…in words. Holy Spirit is the direct communication of God in which there are no conditions[12]—only love, in its purest power and brightest light. Even in my literary creation of a “type” of heaven and hell, a side must always be chosen by the witness; the one in the eye of the storm must choose what they will ultimately see when the dust settles. Be it unto you as you have believed (Matt 8:13; John 14:11-14, 26).
I pray this story helps make you brave as you enter the second room and walk your new shore (Acts 19:1-6).
In His Mercy and beneath His Grace,
Dawn Dyson
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (La Habra, CA: The Zondervan Corporation and the Lockman Foundation, 1987). Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.
[2] Strong’s Concordance, “4982. Sozo.” Biblehub.com, accessed December 12, 2017, http://biblehub.com/str/greek/4982.htm. Author’s note: When the Lord Christ “saves”, the original Greek word, sozo, means the following, simultaneously: to save, to rescue, to deliver, to heal from suffering and disease, to restore to health, to deliver from evils, to transport, to recover, to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment/divine judgment, to keep safe from the wrath of God, to heal spiritually. The tense of the word is both present and future—the word has no end, or suggests an eternal nature which begins in the temporal world. It means to be made whole, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. When the Bible gives accounts of Jesus healing people physically it isn’t as a separate occurrence from the spiritual state of the person, for when He saves, it is an all-inclusive recovery or rescue. Deliver us from evil (Matt 6:9-13, “The Lord’s Prayer”). For example, in Matthew 5:3, the people are described as “blind, crippled, and paralyzed.” This is spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally and physically blind, crippled and paralyzed, just as it is seen today. Jesus heals all who believe in Him (Matt 5:8; John 3:16). It is in being delivered from all of these states of affliction that we gain the compassion and fortitude required to preach and teach the Gospel.
[3] Rosalie J. Slater, Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, “Attorn,” (Chesapeake, VA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967, 1995). Author’s note: The Holy Spirit is named, among other names, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, and Standby. The modern terminology most in common with these four titles is “attorney”. Noah Webster’s definition of attorn (the verb state of attorney) states, “to turn, or transfer homage and service from one lord to another.” In our case, crisis or judgment often plays out in court, in which the eternal goal is to transfer one’s homage and service from the false lord to the True Lord (repent). To read an account of Jesus Christ as “Attorney” (Advocate, in a legal sense), read the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11), one of the most debated passages in the New Testament canon which leads the reader to ask themselves, “Do I believe Christ is that merciful?” The answer to this question will determine if the passage fits or floats, i.e. has no place to rest (Pharisee legalism). It is no coincidence that the Baptism of the Holy Ghost frequently results in the need for spiritual advocacy in an actual courtroom, as in the giving up of families (Matt 19:29, KJV). The spiritual goal of a human court of law is to face Christ and sin no more—He alone fulfills the Law. He stood for us in court prior to His crucifixion (Luke 22:39-23:56). See also, Galatians 1:10, Luke 12:49-53, Ecclesiastes 3:7-8. The ultimate goal is unity (John 17), however, this may follow the removal of a David from the house of Saul, or a Daniel from Nebuchadnezzar (1 Samuel; Daniel), the turning of Job’s captivity (Job 42:10), or other circumstance such as the initial case of Ruth (Ruth 1), but look at the end of the story (Ruth 4) for the result of the bloodline and the message, via the mercy that is God’s, in Christ.
[4] See author’s non-fiction titles for further study: Spring’s Coming: A Christian Study Guide through the Miraculous Process of Divine Healing; The Black Ceiling: A Bible Study Guide on Overcoming Spousal Abuse and the Condemnation of Divorce. Both titles are forthcoming, published by Mercy Sky, LLC; copyright pending.
[5] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 590.
[6] Matthew Henry, Commentary, 590-591.
[7] Rosalie J. Slater, Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, “Forensic,” (Chesapeake, VA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967, 1995).
[8] Vine, W. E., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1984, 1996), 337.
[9] Eric David, “The Man Behind the Mouse (Nov. 4, 2009),” ChristianityToday.com, accessed December 12, 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/novemberweb-only/fofdisney.html.
[10] Rosalie J. Slater, Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, “Crisis,” (Chesapeake, VA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967, 1995).
[11] Ibid., “Crisis.”
[12] Christian Focus Publications, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings by C. H. Spurgeon (Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 618. Author’s note: when one enters ministry via the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, as evidenced in the temptations of Christ or the book of Acts (Matt 4:1, 17; Acts 2), it is important to understand the concept of forsaking all to walk on water after Jesus (Matt 14:25-36). It is upon this type of faith that Christ builds His church (Matt 16:18). This is required of us today; you will shake and be very queasy, initially. Charles Spurgeon elaborates on Hosea 14:4, I will love them freely, by stating: “Remember, the softening of spirit is not a condition, for there are no conditions…” It soothes a saint’s nerves to understand that God, being Providential, is making exactly what and who He wants as His ambassador. The path He has laid out for you is manipulated and tailored by Him as well. Therefore, there are no conditions upon you other than you are being made holy and consecrated. Neither are there any natural conditions, such as how your world must look. Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest (Don’t Think Now, Take the Road) goes so far as to state, “…You have no business with where He engineers your circumstances.” To be made free in Christ is a freedom indeed. Strangely, He takes full responsibility. To walk on water is like being invited into His prayer. Enjoy it. Have fun with Him. To love Him unconditionally means you are good enough to minister, because you believe you are what He is making you. He loves you unconditionally so you can relax. You are not wrong; you are being made right by Him. He is God. You are already in ministry. He simply asks you to do your best and enables you daily. It will become Comfort-able.