Before You Now

You are always before the throne.

  “I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” John 3:10-12.

  I have come to realize more than ever why Jesus taught in parables, that the un-renewed, human mind is at war with and will always rebel against the Spiritual. Unfortunately, we have many people within the Body who have had no, or very little exposure to spiritual experiences. As a result, their minds have no real framework for understanding the spiritual realm. The truth of the matter is, that some of us who have had these experiences are still struggling with understanding it ourselves.

  When Jesus communicated the spiritual to people via parables I believe this was a safeguard as well as “putting the bait out.”

1. Safeguard. By putting the message behind a veil this keeps the unrenewed mind from blundering down roads with information it should not.

2. Putting the Bait Out. When Jesus talked with Peter he said, “…Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:17 This tells me that Peter was now getting information directly from the Spirit. As a result, I suspect many other people were as well, so when Jesus spoke to the people in parables. I think he did this to possibly “see” who suddenly “got it,” who understood it. And once someone got it, a connection was created.

  Basically, the parable was the bait to see who was listening, coming alive to the spirit while keeping the rest of the people in a safe place until the Father deemed them ready. This is because there is no syllable empty or void in the words of the Lord, even the simplest words or images can ignite fires of possibilities within us. This became obvious when Peter said, “…Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68 Life is never empty, it always spreads out.

  Unfortunately, those leaders on the outside, the guardians at the gates who hide their unrenewed minds behind walls of scriptural reasoning, logic, and psychological teaching. These people’s wisdom is not God-centered, but it is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It sounds scriptural and wise, but no life is birthed from their wisdom. Their wisdom is from below, not from above.

  You can talk all day to these people about the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Gifts, how the Lord guided you with dreams, and use all the scripture you want to back up your experiences. But, they will never understand more than the surface and that’s because human words fail to deliver.

  I once took an experience I had long ago and wrote it out, then I tossed it into the trash can. No matter what I did, it always sounded hollow, empty, and pointless. So I keep it within me, like the others. Telling only parts as needed for a story, or teaching, or using them as inspiration in my Science fiction book.

  So many people today in their daily rush of life, that do have a spiritual experience do little with it. Often forgetting it within hours, days, or weeks. I have known people who have had profound dreams that strongly hinted at what God is looking to do with them in the future. But, within a year or less, they are bemoaning and grumbling that the Lord never talks to them because they have forgotten it. 

So what happened?

  If you think about what just happened, I mean if you really stop and think about it then you have to realize that a Holy moment in time just happened to you. The God of the universe stepped in, stopped the regularly scheduled programming of your life, and shared a picture of something with you. How we deal with it should say a lot about how we care for the things of God. Does it slip like sand between your fingers, or do you roll it around and around to carefully inspect it for more clues?

  These very experiences are essentially “pregnant” with Holy things like wonder, insight, and wisdom. They are treasures waiting for you to find. And if I must confess, then I would also say that sometimes it may take years to understand any real measure of these things. I say this because in  the early 80’s I had many experiences, some often on the day of atonement. But my understanding was, well, perhaps a bit flawed as I know I rushed to interpretation. 

  But in the last ten years, I have had other types of experiences visit me. They were not messages of the future, or even concerns about people and places, or even insight into some of the things many people in the world wished they could ask God about. They were just like…well, almost impossible to describe.

  This is because human words on this side of Eternity fail, as we struggle in vain to describe the other side of Eternity. As a result, I now understand certain things, concepts, and possibilities that I never would have before. And that is because these experiences were simply met to teach me about Him.

  And to one degree or another if you have been a long-term reader of this stack, and you have enjoyed it or you have gotten something of value out of it. Then I would say you have benefited from some of the things I have learned.

  The Odd Parts.

  My limited experience with Eternity tells me that it does not operate by our laws of understanding. It has its own rules and communication system. As a result, A + B does not always = C in Eternity. And I believe that’s because everything bends to the desires of the King over it, Jesus.

  I’ve listened to some good teachers on various subjects. But I find it sad when I realize that they keep trying to wrestle spiritual things down and stuff them into their physical boxes of understanding. There is one author whom I have respect for who believes that everything we know of, including Angels, are subject to the same laws of nature we have. He has his reasonings and logic for that and I can respect that. But I do not think that he is correct.

  Case in point, based on what I saw, everything in Eternity has a voice. That is because everything radiates with the Life coming from the throne. As a result, even the clothes you wear in eternity can not help but to communicate. Now don’t ask me how that process takes place, I have tried to write it out, but there are simply no words for it as many aspects of it also escape me. So do clothes talk in the Physical world around us? No, they do not. Therefore Eternity runs by different rules.

  The title of this post is “Before You Now,” I named it that for a reason that could escape some of you. But I know others will get it. Regardless if you realize it or not, we ALWAYS stand in two places at the same time. It’s happened to me twice, and most craziest experience I had was at work when I had to keep dealing with customers through the experience.

  The Lord did this so that I would comprehend that we really are in two places and how thin the wall is. This is why scripture so boldly says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 The throne in Eternity is always present, this is something we need to comprehend.

  We can approach any time, any place. We are always before him and His presence is always with us. It is our doubt, fear, and general human stupidity that keeps us from touching it. These things can be overpowered, subdued by confidence as scripture says. Not a human confidence, mustered up by our self-will. But one that comes from learning to rest in His presence.

  And learning to do that (in my opinion ) seems to always work best in a group of like-minded people. If you don’t have that then I would suggest asking the Lord to put you in one. But be prepared, that might require, for a time leaving your current group.

“Checkmate,” Next week.