(The above picture is pyrography, watercolor, and decoupage on wood I created in 2016 prior to the election cycle in a time of intercession for America and the world.)
Proverbs 16:9
“Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.”
I want to share what I have learned regarding what is happening in the world around us. The first point is that we all see from a darkened perspective of the natural realm, when we need to see from God’s perspective. Understanding life from two different perspectives can be difficult. Learning to live in the Spirit has taught me that I was much more comfortable knowing and seeing things from the natural realm around me than the spiritual realm above me. The Holy Spirit showed it to me through the Apostle John on Patmos as he experienced the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He was in two different positions shown in the first three chapters and the transition that took place in chapter four.
Revelation 4:1 NKJV
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
The words “after this” can be translated this way: After you’ve seen it this way let me show you from another perspective. I have spent hours in meditation with Holy Spirit and the book of Revelation. This is one of the keys that I was given in my journey of learning how to hear what the Spirit is saying. After John was shown the entire church age from earth, he was then brought into another perspective of seeing the same thing from heaven. On earth we don’t have dragons and creatures that exist in the second heaven realm, yet we live within the confines of their effects. We are taught not to battle against flesh and blood because of this. It is still very difficult not to battle things occurring in the flesh and blood realm when humans seem to be causing the problems.
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
I know this may be difficult for those who have read the book of Revelation from a historical and theological viewpoint, but it is a spiritual book written by God to Jesus Christ for His bondservants to reveal Christ and His bride. It is also written from God’s time which is outside of earth time. Paul explains God time:
2 Peter 3:8 NKJV
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
We must understand that in God time it has only been 2 days since the Cross. We must obtain entrance to the realm of Holy Spirit to receive keys to unlock and understand what the Spirit is saying for us today in our part of God time.
My intent with this post is two fold. First we must understand that the plan is often bigger than the picture we see in daily life, and that there is hope.
For John to “come up here,” he had to reposition his understanding and see what God was showing him according to how heaven perspective. In heaven there is no struggle with the plan. On earth there is continual struggle. When we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, it is so we can see from heaven’s perspective what is really going on in the earth. We are positioned as believers with the choice of bringing the realm of heaven into earth by our agreement with heaven and our faith as His kings and priests to do so.
Matthew 6:9
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Faith is power for us to have anything we ask for. Faith is the engine that powers everything in the God realm of life. If I could magnify this statement and make it louder I would. FAITH IS THE KEY! Faith is the economy of heaven like money is the currency of earth. What we think takes currency to bring change will always limit us, when we understand the power of the currency of FAITH, nothing will be impossible for us!
Matthew 17:20 NKJV
“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Along with Faith, we must understand realms. There were two trees in the garden from the beginning of time. One tree leads to death and the other to life. God said if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would die. We might argue that the knowledge of good shouldn’t be evil. Humans have always been in contention with the good side of the wrong tree. We don’t understand that good is still death. We look for “good” everywhere because we think that good and life are synonymous. God said this: if you eat it you will die. He never defined good as being the same as life. So there are only two trees: One is the tree of Life who is Jesus Christ, the other is the tree of death representing the ruler of this world and the end result that living in that realm will always lead to death.
For us as Spirit filled Christians we must first understand which tree we are living in. We all come to Christ as infants and in need of sound doctrine. We also need to understand the connection of being transformed in the renewing of our mind to the mind of Christ ie. the Tree of life.
Living in the tree of Life realm is so completely different from living in the realm of good versus evil. We cannot rise above the war that is continually going on in the earth unless we do as John and “come up here.” Once we enter into the realm of the Spirit and see according to the plan of God, we know the outcome is always victorious regardless of what the carnal realm looks like.
There is a plan! There has always been a plan.
God alone knows the plan! He has always known the plan from beginning to end, from Alpha to Omega. He is the author and finisher of the plan. We are all part of that plan. Whenever I feel stuck in life around me, I turn to the Father and cry out “What’s the plan here?” He speaks this to me:
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God knows the plans! He plans to give us HOPE and a FUTURE! That is what we have to remember when the plans don’t seem to fit what we thought. There are so many times in my life when the plans seemed really screwed up and it was all going to fall apart. Yet He always came through and sometimes it just didn’t make sense that He could fix things that were so beyond broken! I have many testimonies. It would take books to write of all the times He came through and brought miracles out of misery. I know that I know HE has plans for America that are beyond our wildest dreams.
The truth is that all the kingdoms or governments of this world will come under the headship of our King. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of Lords. We are His Kings and Lords that are bringing kingdoms/governments that will bow before Him. As His Kings and Lords we attain to levels of governing in the Spiritual battle that result in subduing powers, principalities and rulers of earth through second heaven realms. We are called to go and take the territory of our own promised land: the nations we are called to disciple. Who is it promised to?
Psalms 2:7-8 NKJV
“I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
Revelation 11:15 NKJV
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
So take heart and rejoice, look up for our redemption is very near! Worship the Lord and rejoice in His plans. Stay in a spirit of continual thanksgiving and gratitude because change really is coming. It is always darkest just before the dawn!
Beautifully illustrated, ardently articulated, Kathleen! Sorry it took me so long to get to this, but seems like I am always trying to catch up. Thank you so much for sharing God's glory and your beautiful anointing with me and so many others! Jesus is coming back, and the scriptures are coming alive, but unfortunately, so many tricked and fooled. But God is so very faithful to those who don't turn away or don't give up. God's Word and promises are to those who stay connected to the vine, and therefore saved to see, and to be in, His beautiful glory!
Many today are disappointed because they expected an earthly fix in the election results, yet I rejoice because I am confident in the plan of God which is beyond our circumstances and comprehension. Thank you for adding clarity to my confidence in Him, no matter what it looks like.