GIVEAWAY!!! The Vision - Retreat part 3

It's been more than a week since I posted Part 2 (click to go) of my retreat series. It's been more than two weeks since the actual retreat. To be honest, the last couple days have been a challenge, and all of the afterglow of the time of retreat seems to have disappeared, but the vision that I saw during our time in prayer that Saturday night at retreat remains extremely vivid to me even now, and it's worth sharing.

As my friends and I poured our hearts to the Lord there in our cabin, I was a bundle of emotions. I came to him with hurts, I came to him with deferred hopes, I had bitterness and resentment but I also had faith, a hunger and thirst for the Lord Himself. I was crying, literally, before the Lord, and that just doesn't happen in my life very often. I am NOT a crier, and so this moment, between me an the Lord and with my sisters in Him was profound for me.

As we were praying, and I was crying, I saw a picture. I saw a woman's figure, almost like a silhouette, the dark shape of a woman in worship with her hands lifted to heaven. But as I looked at her I could see long deep cracks into her shape. And as we continued to pray, I could see the Holy Spirit pouring into her outstretched hands. As I saw the Holy Spirit pouring into her, I could see how He was filling the cracks. I thanked the Lord as we prayed for a God Who fills the cracks and holes in our spirits. It was a profound picture. I struggle to put it into words.

After our prayer time was over I was treasuring the picture the Lord showed me in my heart and I felt Him speaking to my heart. He reminded me about how when a mirror is broken, it both reflects and refracts light improperly. The light is distorted both in the mirror and from the mirror. Likewise when we, God's kids are cracked and broken, His Light is not only distorted when we take it in, but it is distorted when we shine it back out as well.

What I mean is, our cracks and broken places give us a wrong interpretation of Who God is. As good as the perception may be, it falls short of the reality of Who He is. We cannot fully take it in, and so in our brokenness, in our "cracks" we often misread God in our feelings and circumstances. And likewise, we often do a poor job of being Jesus' reflection to those around us, we fall short, reflecting the brokenness in the lives of those around us.

The clarity of the vision for me is hard to express. It was so clear, and such a profound truth that testified to my soul. I want nothing more to be able to show you what I saw, and even in my gift of painting pictures with words, I don't have the colors on my palette to express it.

Last week during my devotional time I was reading from Volume 3 of Unlocking the Bible and Colin S. Smith came very close to capturing the truth of my vision. Speaking of the Holy Spirit he wrote, "He is able to touch all the deep places of your soul, renewing your mind, redirecting affections of your heart, molding and reshaping the will, cleansing the imagination, and healing the memory. He can created new desires within you so that you follow Christ not out of a sense of duty but from a heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness. He can give you the power to live a new life for the glory of God."

What a beautiful word picture of the work of the Holy Spirit, our Helper and Comforter. He fills the cracks in our soul, so that we can both better comprehend who our God is, and so we can better reflect Him into the world around us. We just need to open our hearts to receive more of Him. Hearts of expectation and worship, open to allow the Holy Spirit to do what He desires to do in us continually, until the day the work is complete and no cracks remain and the Light is reflected perfectly.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
1 Corinthians 13:9-12

It blesses me to share something precious with you in the vision I saw, and the confirmation of the word in my devotional time. It's also my pleasure to share a little more with my first ever giveaway.

I have been EXTREMELY blessed by the teachings of Colin S. Smith and his Unlocking the Bible series. I highly recommend you check out his website and his books by clicking here. Last month I had intended to do a giveaway in honor of the blog's 3rd anniversary, but it didn't work out. But Unlocking the Bible did make a donation for the giveaway at my request. And although it's not one of the four volumes that have been such a huge blessing to me personally they did donate the littler book "10 Keys for Unlocking the Bible" (pictured below).





The back of the book reads in part: "The 10 keys are condensed from Unlocking the Bible Story, a series of four books that cover the story in greater detail. If you enjoy the high altitude flyover and want to get closer to the ground, Unlocking the Bible Story will give you a map and a compass. But those of you who are new to the Bible or want a quick overview of the Christian faith, this is the place to begin. Join Colin Smith on the journey. The views are breathtaking!"

Perhaps that's not deep enough for you, but it could be a handy tool to have to share with someone else at the right time. Or perhaps it's enough to create a thirst that will cause you to draw deeper from the well. If you are interested in purchasing the bigger volumes you can visit the Unlocking the Bible website, or you can purchase them through my Amazon.com store (click to go).

So want to win? There are SEVEN ways to try, so that means you can get up to seven entries for the chance to win this great little book.

How to enter the drawing:

1. Post this blog to your Facebook.
2. Tweet this post, be sure to include @dianadepriest and #MyWalkOfFaith in the tweet.
3. Become a follower, found in the right column. (If you are already a follower, let me know.)
4. Grab my button (in the left column) and put it on your blog or website. (If my button is already on your site, let me know.)
5. Subscribe to receive posts by email at the top of the left column. (If you already receive posts by email, let me know.)
6. Become a fan on Facebook.same deal, already a fan, let me know.
7. Leave a comment on the blog. (Don't panic when it doesn't post right away, it has to wait for my approval.)

Be sure to let me know all the ways you have entered by sending me a quick email at dianadepriest1@gmail.com, this step is especially important if we aren't Facebook or Twitter buddies! And if you post the button on your blog, be sure to include your own blog address in the email so I can check out your blog as well. So send me the email and come back one week from today when I will announce the winner of the giveaway.

Please help make my first bonafide giveaway a success!