May you all have peace!
At the outset, please let me state that this is not a thread intended to 'glorify' me. But it seems that SO many ask why I think I can hear and others can't/don't. The question has caused me much grief over the past few years, and I have 'asked' on it, and received the answer that, primarily, it is due to faith. And okay, I accept that. But recently, the question has been thrown at me so often, and in many cases with such maliciousness, that apparently I have asked again... in my heart... to a greater degree. I have received an answer, and wish to share it with you, if I may.
This morning my Lord appeared to me and said he wanted to show me something. He then took me in a vision to a place where I saw a LOT of people, of all sorts, ages, and both genders. They were standing there, in the flesh, looking like regular people. Except... they were all naked. No clothing. And... no genitalia. This didn't bother me, though, because I knew there was a point, and clothing and genitalia had nothing to do with it. So, I just waited, wishing to see what was to be shown me.
Eventually, as I looked at the people, I saw one or two had something QUITE different going on: their hearts... were OUTSIDE their bodies. Rather than being hidden BEHIND the flesh, their hearts were outside... and openly exposed. For ALL to see. And what was IN their hearts... or rather ON them... was in plain view.
I then watched as those whose hearts were NOT exposed, derided those who were, chided them, maligned them... and cursed them as being weak and 'unclothed'. "HIDE that," they whispered and even screamed at the others. "Don't let ANYONE see that... it is WRONG." And the people whose hearts were exposed were taken aback, frightened even, and sometimes ashamed... because they were... 'different'. They were made to FEEL different, even bad.
I was then shown myself... and I, too, had my heart on the OUTSIDE of my flesh. And even worse, mine was... grotesquely large! Obscenely so, almost. A few others had large hearts, too, and we were made to feel the worse. It was like our hearts WERE genitalia... and those whose were hidden were disgusted that we would present such things publicly.
Some of us with exposed hearts began scrambling to 'cover' them, push them inside our flesh. But those of us with quite large hearts... no matter WHAT we did... could not. They wouldn't fit. Some part of them always managed to be exposed, hanging out. Until some of us just gave up. We decided that our difference was NOT bad, or 'wrong'... that it was US... and what we possessed... but otherwise, we were no different from anyone else there.
But then a NEW problem arose: as I said, one could see what was ON the hearts that were exposed... AND... some of them kept growing larger. Including mine. It was quite... embarrassing. But... I could NOT hide it. And MANY of the things written on my particular heart proved to be 'disgusting' to those in view, primarily because to THEM... those things depicted weakness... and vulnerability, which they also considered weak.
So, a group of them turned toward me, with GREAT hatred in their eyes and told me that if I DIDN'T cover my heart... they would cover it FOR me... even KILL me... because what was exposed there was, to them, obscene and disgusting. And they wouldn't stand for it. I tried to tell them that what was written there was NOT filthy, NOT disgusting... that it made ME feel quite good, VERY good... and I was willing to share ALL of it with them... but the majority of them didn't want it. In fact, MOST of them were actually afraid, more so than disgusted. They didn't understand the 'difference' and it frightened them. And they were acting more out of fear... than out of hatred.
But their actions and words APPEARED to be hatred. Because after some time, not only did they SAY things, but they began to poke at the exposed hearts, with VERY sharp objects, even trying to cut some of them off! As a result, some of the exposed hearts began to bleed, and ooze. Some of them... died... and just hung there, dried out, lifeless... no longer beating... and eventually began to stink.
It was WEIRD!
At some point, a man came through... with a 'pen'. Sort of like a quill, but I didn't get a chance to see it clearly, because he came by SO fast! And he WROTE something on all of the exposed hearts... whether small or large. On the small ones, he wrote briefly. But on the large ones, he wrote extensively. And thus, there was even MORE writing exposed... which disgusted those with their hearts hidden EVEN MORE! I wanted to protest when he came to me, but before I could even sum up a word, he had 'written'... and moved on. And every so often, he returned... and wrote more. My god, there was SO much stuff written on MY particular heart... that even I began to be embarrassed at what was there. But... it felt SO good!
Finally, at one point, when the man came again with his pen, I mustered up the courage to ask him what was going on, why we were like this, some exposed, some not, some with large hearts, some not... and HE said that he was 'the Spirit', and had been sent to 'write the Law' upon our hearts. And that the more exposed and larger the heart... the more he could 'write'. Then he shook his head and pointed to the people whose hearts were NOT exposed, not one bit, and said, "I cannot write anything there... for there is no slate, no heart upon which to write. It is 'hidden'."
"But isn't that a GOOD thing?" I asked him, "to hide your heart, so that no one can see it... or HURT it?"
"But if you HIDE it," he said, "How am I to write upon it? I have no access to those that are hidden, but ONLY to those that are exposed. And to the greater degree a heart is exposed, to that extent I can write more. The larger the canvas, the more glorious the etching."
So, eager... but DUMB me... thought, well, hey, I want ALL of mine out there. And I want it to be even LARGER. And to my chagrin, I got just what I wanted. MORE heart came out... and it grew even more! Even faster than I had anticipated. And the next thing I know, people with hidden hearts were screaming at me, and throwing things at me, and trying to poke and scatch and STAB my heart... and trying to pull it off. The pain was EXCRUICIATING. I kept begging them to stop; I even tried to run... but there was no place to go away to. At some point, I thought I wanted to die.
And then the man came back again. He said to me, "Don't worry about the size of your heart. It is a heart that the Father... and all others... can see clearly. There is no guessing, no wondering, no worry about what is 'written' there, for it is openly exposed before all. You are able to hide... nothing. Nothing at all. From anyone. From the Father, from our Lord, from your family and loved ones... from your enemies. And that is 'good' thing. For is it the HEART that the Father examines... and not the flesh. And with you, there is no trouble making such examination. There is no guessing as to your motive and intent, for it is there... openly exposed... for all to see. In ALL matters, whatever the nature. You hide... nothing. So, take courage... and stand strong. And do not let them have your heart. For I have yet to write there... GREAT things... that have been granted me... to give to you. I WILL be back."
And he left. He has not been back yet, but after he left, I saw my heart grow again. And there is an empty space where it did so. Nothing is written on that space... yet... but I anticipate... and welcome his return. For as I said, the growth... and the writing... felt SO good! I crave both.
I, myself, Shelby, have shared with you... openly and freely... what I saw. I speak the truth, and I am...
Your servant and a slave of Christ.