To conclude Discipleship school,
our class took a two week trip overseas. We had three teams, two ventured to
the Middle East and one made their way to Northwest Africa. We spent our time
loving on the people, making friends, enjoying the culture and eating great
food. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I am hoping to later
write about all the amazing things that we witnessed including miracles,
healings, dreams, visions and all that is in between. I am constantly reminded
about God’s goodness and pursuit of the ones that he loves and I am still
baffled as to how he uses the weak and imperfect to reveal himself. Anyways,
this post is a revelation I received while I was in Lebanon.
While we
were in Lebanon, we attended a Sunday morning service at a Pentecostal church.
This was my first time to experience a church like this and I LOVED it. Even
though I had no idea what was being said, I learned that the Spirit of God is
the same wherever you go. The place was so alive and the people were so loving.
As I was worshiping the Lord showed me this vision:
Jesus took
me into this old building. It looked like it was once a beautiful, thriving
palace. It was at one time a place of royalty and extravagance. The ceilings
were covered with beautiful paintings and unique design. On either side there
were giant columns lining the room. The floor was marble and had a strange checkered
pattern. Whatever this place was, it is
dead now. There was nothing that filled the room, it was completely empty.
There was no furniture, people, or décor. Jesus then spoke, “This place is a
mosque and where we stand now is the palace of Islam. We are in the future,
when Islam will no longer have breath, and its heart will no longer beat. The
palace was dark, abandoned, and covered with dust. I could see that at the
front of the room there were stairs that led to what was once a throne. The
throne had even been removed. Jesus spoke again, “Every high and lofty kingdom will be brought down.” He then reminded
me of the Egyptians and all of the gods they worshiped. He reminded me of the
Greek gods that no longer receive glory. He showed me the ancient Aztecs and
even kings and rulers like the Russian Czars. These were the gods and the kings
of their time, and they all fell. “Alyssa, I want you to come to this place and
call Islam into this reality, the
reality of nonexistence. Believe that tall dynasties will be brought down
through prayers and intercession of my people. I give you permission to ask for
things that seem impossible.”
It was about
four days later when my friend Michelle and I went to the biggest mosque in the
city. It is in the middle of Beirut and ironically surrounded by churches. We
didn’t go because of the vision, in fact I didn’t even make any connection
until later. To be honest, I was just curious. We entered into the mosque, put
on our coverings, took off our shoes and were ready to pray. Some things
happened there that I did not expect. As I was praying and looking around, I
saw Jesus in the mosque! He was walking around and praying and ministering to
the Muslims that were kneeling to Allah! I asked him, “Jesus, they are not
praying to you. How is it that you are speaking to them?” He said, “Alyssa, I
love them and died for them. I know they don’t know me, but that does not keep
me from drawing near to them. Even if they never come to know me, at the end of
time they will see I was with them the whole time.” Wow! My perspective of God
and religion was just shattered. God is not confined and he isn’t even shut out
of Islam. He is actually moving and at work in their hearts. God is God and
nothing, not even Islam, will stop him! Some more things that God showed me were
that one day the mosque will be empty and the churches surrounding them will be
flooded. Also, the same way many churches in Europe have become like museums so
will mosques. People will pay to see and will say, “This is what once was and
is no longer.”
We had a
very powerful experience encountering the presence of God in a mosque. On our
way back we were talking about everything Jesus had been speaking and then all
of a sudden the connection happened! I had just received that vision a few days
before about coming to that “palace” and I literally just lived it out. Not only
had that happened, but the mosque in Beirut looked so similar to the one in my
vision! There were high ceilings, tall pillars; even the floors had a checkered
pattern. Once again I am blown away how big God is. It also made me realize that
what He had spoken about the fall of Islam is His Word and it will come to
pass! He has given us an invitation to bring down the false gods of religion
and to put Jesus on the throne!
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