Four years later, on August 4, 2004, at 10:44 am, she sent me this email, which reads in part: “Today, the Lord had these Scriptures pop out to me in reference to the dream God gave me about the rain falling on you.  These Scriptures are for you.  God is working on you, Robert.  Stay close to Him.”  She then wrote this first Scripture (Ezekiel 36:25): “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”  And then she wrote the second Scripture (John 15:3): “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

Later that day, at 11:59 am, she sent me a follow-up email, saying, in part: “One thing more the Lord gave me about you last night was that the reason why he won’t let me share with you the revelation in the dream is because of this: you will not be able to say a man gave it to you.  It’s the kind of thing that no man can take credit for, and for what God has for you, you are going to have to be able to say that God revealed this in me with His own hand, no man gave it to me.  I am only here to encourage you and to let you know that there is more to come.”

The next day, on August 5, 2004, at 10:07 am, she sent me another email, which reads, in part: “This morning I was praying and the Lord gave me a vision.  I saw your head connected to what looked like a mechanical body.  Instead of skin, you had metal.  The Lord showed me the inside of your torso and chest and there was a lot of wiring.  You looked down and pulled out a few wires and your arms seemed to go dead.  You were happy and glad with your own accomplishments.  But the Lord showed me where the wiring was still connected.  It ran deep inside.  It ran in places you couldn’t reach and didn’t know.  Then I saw the Lord lift you up out of that body and you were snatched out of the mechanical body and stuck to the palm of the Lord’s hand, just like a magnet is to another magnet.  The metal frame completely fell off and you were with the hand of the Lord up high.”

She then wrote: “Then the Lord began to speak.  Robert, if you are going to abide in me, all that is not of me is going to have to fall off.  Like a magnet stuck to the palm of my hand you will be, if you just continue to follow no matter what.  Seemingly disastrous times are ahead (I asked Him to explain and He went further): a nation of poverty, disastrous attacks on American soil will change the economic status drastically, the weak will become weaker, the poor will become poorer, and in only a few cases will the rich become richer.  If you allow me to keep you no matter what, I will keep you safe from all harm.  There are some things that must change, Robert.  Your wiring is hooked up to the wrong source.  I am going to do some unplugging and rearranging, until everything that is not of me falls off.  I will keep you, yes I will keep you; you will be one of the ones I keep for myself.  Only abide in me and trust me no matter what.  There is a breeze of change coming.  Know that it is by my hand, every last bit of it is by my hand; its purpose is to bring about a change in your life, a change for the better and a change in me.  I will see to it.  I want you to view it as my love, see it as my love, know and trust it as so.  There are some changes in you that must be made in order for you to soar to new heights in my Spirit.  I won’t take the old Robert, no not one iota of you will be taken into this new thing I plan to do in you; see it as me coming to reside in you.  I love you, my dear sweet son.”

She concluded by writing this: “Tell Robert, I said it’s purification time.  The sanctification I do will be real; the cleansing I do will be permanent.  I am coming to do a permanent work in him.  All he has to do is abide in me, no matter what.”

I have not seen or heard from this woman since the day she gave me this last prophecy.  And yet, I can’t tell you how many times I have gone back to those prophetic words in the years since she first shared them with me.  Just the other morning, walking 7.30 miles on the beach, in the rain, just as the sun came up over the Atlantic horizon, I remembered once more her words: “There are some changes in you that must be made in order for you to soar to new heights in my Spirit.  I won’t take the old Robert, no not one iota of you will be taken into this new thing I plan to do in you; see it as me coming to reside in you.”

That love – God’s Love – coming to reside in you; it breaks away everything that is not of Him, everything that is not useful to Him, all those demons and struggles, all that vexing and wrestling, every single bit of duplicity and double-mindedness that keeps us unstable in all our leanings.  God will break it all away.

On the road to your High Calling, there is a breaking process you will walk through.

All those years ago, when she prophesied over my life, she kept saying “Abide in me.”  Abide in Jesus.  I am reminded of what I once learned from Gloria Copeland on this topic: abiding is obeying.  Abiding is obeying.  Abiding in Jesus is obeying Jesus.  And abiding in God is also obeying the call of God on your life and in your life.  Obeying your inner witness.  Doing what you know is right for you to do.  Abiding in God is also loving yourself enough to listen to your own heart, doing what it asks of you, following where it leads.

I have lived long enough to see, feel and experience life when you don’t follow the promptings of your heart and inner witness.  Your life becomes divided, compartmentalized, fractured, splintered, you wear a mask that shields others from the real you – a mask that keeps your God nature from predominating across all areas of your life.

In order to abide in Jesus, you need to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Scriptures: Psalm 30, Psalm 34:18, Psalm 44:19, Psalm 44:25, Psalm 51:17, Psalm 147:3, John 10:10, John 10:35

I Woke Up in the Middle of the Night This Morning

© 2008 Robert Wesley Branch

I woke up in the middle of the night this morning

and cried

and prayed

and remembered

and pledged to God

and danced

and sang

and felt sorry

and regretted

and buried old bones

and dug them up

and threw them around the room

and was quiet,

then hopeful again.

Day 365 - Washington - 5:03 am - finishing up my 4.35-mile walk this morning. One year ago today, I started these morning walks/runs and I have only missed one day since then. The morning I missed, I was in Baltimore and even though Druid Hill Park was nearby, I opted not to run in an unfamiliar environment at 4 am, so I skipped that day. Other than that, I have been successful at creating a daily exercise habit. God is good.

Day 364 - Washington - 4:45 am - the last steps of my 4.35-mile walk this morning - with God and Hurricane Irene. Downed trees and power outtages throughout the neighborhood. Great workout, though, pushing against the strong winds. And, of course, I LOVE the rain.

Day 363 - Washington - 4:56 am - finishing up my 4.32-mile walk this morning.

Day 362 - Washington - 4:59 am - at the end of my 4.44-mile walk this morning.

Day 361 - Washington - 5:06 am - the last steps of my 4.35-mile walk this morning!

Day 360 - Washington - 4:32 am - finishing up my 4.45-mile walk this morning.

Day 359 - Washington - 4:43 am - the last steps of my 4.35-mile walk this morning.

Day 358 - Washington - 4:34 am - the last steps of my 4.39-mile walk this morning.

Day 357 - Washington - 4:39 am - finishing up my 4.34-mile walk this morning.

Day 356 - Washington - 4:35 am - at the end of my 4.42-mile walk this morning.

Day 355 - Washington - 4:36 am - the last steps of my 4.43-mile walk this morning.

Day 354 - Washington - 4:49 am - at the end of my 4.34-mile walk this morning.

Day 353 - Washington - 4:39 am - finishing up my 4.39-mile walk this morning.

Day 352 - Washington - 4:44 am - at the end of my 4.34-mile walk on this beautifully breezy morning.

Day 351 - Washington - 5:01 am - finishing up my 4.28-mile walk this morning.

Day 350 - Washington - 4:42 am - the last steps of my 4.35-mile walk this morning.

Day 349 - Washington - 4:40 am - at the end of my 4.31-mile walk this morning.