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Come Up Here!

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Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future. 2 At once I came under the [Holy] Spirit’s power, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne!

During this season we have learned we are to prepare for the return of Jesus, watching, listening and praying regarding what He has to say regarding this new year. But there is another clue imbedded in this passage the Lord has left for its reality to manifest in our lives: Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future. 2 At once I came under the [Holy] Spirit’s power, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne!

The Apostle John was invited to ascend through the Door, Jesus entering the Throne Room of God. Now as mind bending as that seems its easy to overlook the promise at the end of Revelation 3:21 He who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant him to sit beside Me on My throne, as I Myself overcame (was victorious) and sat down beside My Father on His throne. Now we can apply this promise to the culmination of our salvation – seeing Jesus face-to-face, or we can use this passage as a guide to begin experiencing the spiritual dimensions of this promise in the present. Colossians 3:1-3 reminds us: If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.2 And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. AMPC

According to this passage your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ… Where is Jesus according to this passage? Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Part of the key to unlocking aspects of the Revelation 3:21 promise is found in the exhortation: set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things),…

Your mind is one of the keys to ascending into the Throne of God. What are the other keys? Revelation 3:21 He who overcomes (is victorious),…Overcomes what? The spiritual condition of the Laodiceans. A careful reading of Revelation 3:14-20 reveals what we are to overcome. First, they were spiritually blind to the fact that Jesus was not in their church service (they weren’t looking for Jesus). Second, they were spiritually deaf to His Voice (they weren’t listening for Jesus). Third, they were unfeeling regarding their spiritual condition and the Manifest Presence of Jesus (they were only lukewarm – not hot or cold). Fourth, they expected nothing to happen because they were self-assured they needed nothing spiritually. Fifth, they were spiritually poor and naked and weren’t even conscious that the poor in spirit see God; those who are hungry for more of Him.

Ephesians 1:17-18 Paul prays: [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, 18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),…

Paul prayed the eyes of their heart would be flooded with light so they could know. Hebrews 5:11,14 makes reference to using our spiritual senses to see, hear and know spiritual things: Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even slothful in achieving spiritual insight].…14 But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law. AMPC

The writer of Hebrews was rebuking its recipients of being like the Laodiceans: blind, deaf, and spiritually dull in their spiritual senses. Without going into a long explanation let’s reword this concept by using the phrase “divine imagination.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 states that we have the Mind of Christ. For those of you uncomfortable with this concept let me ask you a question. When you read the Bible do you imagine what certain things were like? If you have the Mind of Christ can you tap into His mind, praying that He would open your spiritual eyes and ears to the Throne room of Heaven? Why would Jesus exhort the Laodiceans to be zealous and change their thinking regarding all of that which is mentioned above? Surely His exhortation included the Grace to quit being spiritually blind and spiritually deaf.

He exhorts the Laodiceans to purchase, or pay a price for these things spiritually. During this holy time are you paying the price to sit with Jesus in Heaven? This may be too much for you to take in so let me provide another key to entering into the manifestation of this reality. Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. KJV

We can enter into the Throne Room of God simply through thanksgiving, praise, and worship. God inhabits these things. When we acknowledge the Omniscient Lord seeking His Manifested Presence – He meets us there enthroning Himself on our praises. During the Ten Days of Awe seek to enter into His Throne Room by enthroning Him on your thanksgiving, praise, and worship. And while you are practicing these things ask Him to open your mind so you can fix your imagination on things above – not on things of the earth. Pray He will give you salve to heal your spiritual vision and seek Him to open your spiritual eyes to see and be flooded with the Light of His Presence.

Somethings Wrong?

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How is it that an individual can read, and study the Bible and not hear God speak? How is it that they can know about God but not recognize the various ways He communicates personally? Why do millions of church attenders rarely, if ever, compare and contrast their life to the lives of Biblical characters who heard from God – on a regular basis? Why hasn’t the connection been made that somethings missing in their walk with God? 

Within Evangelical Christianity there’s a contradiction between doctrine and practice. We are taught that we have a personal relationship with God. We are taught that prayer should be made  for direction regarding major decisions. Yet the question is, “How do you know God is speaking? How do you distinguish between your own thoughts, the devil and the Spirit of God in you? What prevents us from hearing God? Is there a connection between the Word of God and Hearing God speak? What is it – other than knowing how He has spoken in the past?

In John 15:3 Jesus states:You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you].

The Amplified Translations choice of words, “cleansed” and “pruned” come pretty close to the original meaning. The Greek word,“ka-tha-ros,” means to be: “purged, cleared away, purified; pruned and cut back from worldly idolatry, adulteration, and admixture; cleansed from dirt.” If the word sounds familiar it’s because it is. Our English word  “cauterize” is derived from it. It’s defined as “to sear; burn away; deaden; render insensible” The Hebraic understanding of cleansing conveys a similar idea. Holiness, sanctification and burning were words chosen to describe the process Christ spoke of. At the “burning”…. bush, God told Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Hebrews 12:29 states: “our God is a consuming fire.” Pentecost describes tongues of fire that came and rested upon the people’s “minds” as they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and with…Fire.

So is there a connection between being cleansed, pruned, “burned” or sanctified by the Word that enables us to hear and recognize the ways that He speaks? In other words, will how you relate to the Word insure your ability to remain in a relationship, communing, or conversing with Jesus? When you allow the Word to “burn” your life, thinking, actions, and intentions to the ground does that bring greater clarity?

What’s puzzling to me is that our generation has greater access to the Words of God yet seem much duller in hearing and recognizing the ways that He speaks. How did New Testament believers have a greater relationship with God while not possessing a written copy of the Bible? Even more puzzling is the fact that even though the Word has the power to connect it’s readers and listeners with the Voice of God there are so many who read, and even teach it, yet don’t hear God. How is it that you can read, study, and even memorize it and not have an intimate relationship with God? How is it that when we reached the conclusion we needed to embrace Jesus as our Savior and Lord that we heard His Still, Small Voice? Even though we were anything but holy, and our minds were elsewhere – we still recognized our need for Him. Was that a sovereign act of grace?

Church attenders for centuries have been distancing themselves from making connections between their lives and the Words of God. But what’s startling is that less and less people are reading it presently. In a comprehensive fashion our generation seems to be sealing their fates to ever knowing God. Romans 1 speaks of the Last Days in which the people do not think God worth the knowing. Can there be any doubt that we are living in the Last Days? I believe that cultural ways of believing and thinking are trusted more than God’s Word leaving church attenders unable to recognize how far they have fallen from God. Our spiritual senses simply grow duller and duller. May we all have an awakening, calling for a new reformation, leading to the transformation of the Body of Christ. Jesus is coming back for a Bride that is equally yoked to Him. Why would we ever entertain the idea that He wants a Bride that doesn’t know Him, or long to know Him?