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Come Up Here
(Revelations 4:1) After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
John the Revelator is the presumed author of this last book of the Bible. Tradition has held that this is none other than John the Apostle. Among other things, John the Apostle was destined to live a long life. You may recall that at then end of the Gospel of John Jesus predicts Peters manner of death and then goes on:
(John 21:22-23) Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he [John] remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple [John] was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
John the Apostle was one of the “Sons of Thunder”. His brother James was beheaded by Herod not long after the Pentecost transformation. Each of the disciples had a destiny given them. Their destiny was hard. After all, they were ground breakers. John is believed to have been the only one to die a natural death. Tradition holds that the Roman authorities had attempted to put John to death in a vat of boiling oil from which he emerged unharmed. Part of John's destiny was to live a long life. He who is believed to have been the youngest of the Apostles, became the Church's elder statesman.
Fortunately, suffering death or suffering for Christ is rarely the destiny of American Christians. But we all have a God given destiny provided from the beginning of time, and that destiny is through the door that is Jesus:
(Luke 13:24) “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
(John 10:17-19) So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”
(Revelations 3:8, to the Church in Philadelphia) “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Jesus is the door. Jesus is the one in whom and through whom your God given purpose and destiny is known, is understood. In Jesus is the power to overcome every blockage that the devil has piled against you to keep you from becoming the man or woman of God that was written in the book of your life from the beginning of time.
You will go in and out and find pasture. If you are a sheep, or a cowboy like Dianne, pasture sounds great. But for me, my pasture isn't green grass. My pasture is the place where my destiny comes alive. John, a “Son of Thunder” was known in later life as gentle and peaceable man, despite living through a very difficult period of Christian history. Your destiny should be a place of peace, even if your destiny is in the midst of a storm.
(John 14:9) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
(John 5:19) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
(John 6:38) “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
Jesus is a door open to God the Father. Jesus did everything he could to take his person out of the equation, so that God the Father was always being revealed in his life: God's will, God's heart, God's plans. He could do this because he was in constant communion with his Father in Heaven.
When a young Jewish boy becomes a teenager, he takes his first step into manhood by entering the temple amongst the adult men. You remember the story of Jesus' first time in the temple. The family travels to Jerusalem for Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41). Jesus goes to the temple. When the family picks up and heads for home Jesus stays behind. When they discover he isn't with the caravan, they return to the temple to find him talking with the rabbies. His parents are upset, but Jesus is confused:
(Luke 2:49) And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”
I do not think this is an instance of Jesus being a teenager. Remember, Jesus converses with God continually. He knows his destiny. His parents were devout Jews. I believe he assumed that his parents understood his calling. I was watching an interview with an actor whose parents were famous as well. This actor stated that there was a moment when they were suddenly shocked to realize that not everyone's parents were famous. Jesus must have known by now that he was different, but just how different hadn't occurred to him. But there are his parents upset, angry and clearly not understanding His reply. Jesus has to go back to God the Father for advise on where he had messed up with his papa Joe the carpenter.
(Luke 2:51-52) And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Jesus is not playing his own game. He is listening to God all the way. He has to adjust because his earthly father isn't on the same page with God the Father. There is no indication in the gospels of Jesus ever doing things his own way. Unfortunately the discord between Jesus destiny in the Father and what his family saw his destiny to be were not on the same page. He begins preaching, but when he returns to his hometown there is a bit of a stir at home:
(Mark 3:21) And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
(John 7:5) not even his brothers believed in him.
Only Mark mentions that the family is trying to drag Jesus out of the synagogue. The gives clarity to Jesus' reply when told that his mother and his brothers are outside. Notice that Joseph, his father is not mentioned. If, as I believe must have been the case, given the reply, Jesus is now the eldest son and therefore the authority in the family. In other words, there is no longer a conflict between the earthly authority and God's desire.
(Mark 3:33-35) “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Our heavenly destiny can bring unwanted conflict to our family.
(Luke 12:53) “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
(Ephesians 2:10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Isaiah 45:3) I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
“Our present is determined by our future. Our present does not determine the future.” (Mark Chirona at Texas Ablaze, July 19, 2019).
(Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
God designed me. And God designed you. As I step into my destiny in Jesus Christ, God is delighted. We have a pastor friend in Bacliff. He and his wife are licensed councilors and do seminars. They have both published several books, so I have been quizzing them on the ins and outs of publishing. I got a copy of Connie Miller's book Downloads from the Heart of Daddy God which at first seemed silly and simple. As I read it, I realized the book is simple, but it is not silly. It is composed as a set of letters from Daddy God. Each is followed by Bible quotes to substantiate the thought, and study questions. I found this in a letter entitled “My Masterpiece”:
“I knew the road would seem long to you and at times treacherous, but I have committed to bringing you home to Me. I am committed to fulfilling My Plan for you despite your times of rebellion.” (Connie Miller, Downloads from the Heart of Daddy God. page 20.)
Yes. We can resist God. But God is still tugging on us. There is a steady gravitational pull to God's desire for us. Our contentment is in allowing God to pull us to our destiny. As a teenager, I began to struggle with the church. I began to call myself an atheist. It wasn't that I didn't believe in God, I wanted to see God. The more that I challenged the adults around me, the less faith I had that any of them truly knew anything about God. It is not fair to suggest that none of them knew God, but not one had a testimony of God at work in their life. I became very judgmental about their religiosity. Yet, hind-site being twenty-twenty, many had an active relationship with God, but it was so buried in the routines of life, that they couldn't see it.
Looking backwards, I can see that God was pulling me out of business as usual in my religious experience. God wanted me to actively seek a genuine relationship with Him. In other words, even though I did not profess to being a Christian anymore, the Holy Spirit was actively at work. There were those all around me who were saying “we see”, but they didn't see. There were those all around me who said “we hear”, but they didn't hear. I said, “I don't see”, but I was seeing. I said, “I don't hear”, but I was hearing.
I am making this sound like I was a prophetic seer. That is definitely not the case. I was seeing through a glass darkly. I was hearing a voice, muffled and indistinct. Worse, I had lost faith in my tradition. As a result my quest led me down a lot of dark alleys. Thank you to my parents who gave a Christian upbringing. I had something to compare the darkness to. I came to the conclusion that despite my frustration with the church, at the bottom of it all, Jesus had the best answers. So I joined a church that was sold out on the idea of changing the world. I wasted seven and half years, not including the time it took to get my feet back under me again, trying to change the world. Here is the problem. This church knew how to call for change in the spirit. Prayer and fasting were constant. But they lost their connection to Jesus. They could no longer hear the word of the Lord. They stepped into fight after fight, but they were not called to them. I had been sidetracked by enthusiasm, but lost my ear to hear.
“I have known missionary friends who said, ‘I hear the cry of lost souls calling me into the mission field.’ These workers are headed for the missionary bone yard. They have responded to the call of the need rather than the call of God.” (Reinhard Bonnke, Living a Life of Fire. page 339.)
Like so many of us, I got caught up in my own importance to the process. We just don't know ourselves as well as we think we do. But, God does. God knows exactly how, when and where we will be incredible, fabulous, indispensable. Most of all, God knows what has to be set in place to release heaven through us. It starts with a relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I want to be the one to change things, but the only gift that changes the world is the one that Jesus places in my hands. Having failed more times that I wish to recall I approach service like a blind beggar. But when I know that the gift in my hands is from God, then I know that I am clothed in the authority of heaven. Bill Johnson states this beautifully in a recent book:
“Rule with the heart of servant because everything you have access to is for the benefit of others. Serve with the heart of a king because you know that you have been placed in peoples lives as royalty.” (Bill Johnson)
(Act 26:14; from Paul's defense before Festus and Agrippa) And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Not many actively persecute the Church. Not even in Muslim or Communist countries. Many of us, even those of us in the Church, say disparaging things about the Church. We get frustrated with the Church and wish it would do a better job of representing Jesus Christ. At least, I do. And then there are the times that we realize that we too are guilty of “kicking against the goads.” There are times when we just don't want to do what we know we need to do. It may be easier if I were knocked off my high horse, blinded by light, and my fire breathing troop of soldiers are now quivering in the dust,t to say, “What would you have me do?” But what if you are going through your day and you feel a little nudge, a still small voice, saying, “Don't go that way, turn here.” I have had this occur to me, and while I was still deciding whether that was a stray thought or the voice of the Lord I wound up in a traffic snarl. Worse there are moments when the voice says give this person money or pray for that person and I hesitate and the moment is no longer available. Because I have answered the call at other times, I know the exhilaration that comes from bringing light into someone's life.
As Christians we are baptized into the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the old you keeps wanting to come back. Our old habits, our old friends, our old ways of thinking keep coming back to interrupt the flow. Putting to death the old you is a constant process. Living in the outpouring of heaven is learning the new mind, the mind of Christ.
During the recent Texas Ablaze conference, Mark Chirona's made the point that Christians do not always die well. Many of us come to the end of our days kicking and fussing. Interestingly, the protests of Job played a central role in Christian burial liturgy from very early, according to historian Mark Larrimore (The Book of Job A Biography. Pp. 122). God is not afraid of our kicking and fussing. God would rather we kick and fuss, until we come to our place of peace. Larrimore makes the point that:
“Conspicuously absent from the proceedings, however, are Job's friends with all their theologizing. The liturgical community, allowing Job to speak for himself, offers true comfort.”
[Noting that the Catholic church did not remove Job from the funeral liturgy until after Vatican II, Larrimore asks:] “Has faith become so much easier? Or have the liturgists lost heir nerve, concerned that Job's importunate words--available now in the vernacular--would raise questions too strong for faith?” (Mark Larrimore, The Book of Job A Biography. Pp. 125 & 128-129)
We have gifts and we have challenges. My gifts and challenges are different than yours. You may have beaten challenges that I haven't conquered yet. You can help me. I may have accessed a gift that God had for me and you may have a similar gift waiting. We help each other. When we access God we move mountains. When we step into to the presence of God, heaven's gifts begin to flow. There is one problem: you and I cannot make God come in power. You and I cannot will ourselves into the presence of God. If we were to get to the wedding feast without a wedding garment, well Jesus tells us that one is thrown out:
(Matthew 22:13-14) “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
So how do I dress for this wedding? You say, “die to yourself”, but what does that mean? It means that “I” am no longer in the center of the picture. My feelings don't come rushing in at every slight or insult. I can listen without elbowing my way into the conversation. I am happy for others, even if my contributions are overlooked. Oddly enough, it also means that my failures don't haunt me. I don't have to announce my faults at every occasion.
(John 15:11) “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Paul Tillich was for many years the dean of theology here in America. He was another opponent of Hitler who was forced to flee. I resently picked up a book containing many of his sermons, one of which seemed appropriate for our current discussion. This sermon was on the meaning of joy.
“The greatest of the modern foes of Christianity, Friedrich Nietzsche, himself the son of a Protestant minister, has expressed his judgment about Jesus in the words, ‘His disciples should look more redeemed.’ We should subject ourselves to the piercing force of these words and should ask ourselves, ‘Is our lack of joy due to the fact that we are Christians, or to the fact that we are not sufficiently Christian?’ ” (Paul Tillich. The New Being. 1955. from “The Meaning of Joy”. Pg. 142.)
Tillich makes a strong distinction between pleasure and joy. Pleasure, he suggests is an excitement of the senses. Pleasure is natural and good, but pleasure can be used and abused. Pleasure can be self-indulgent, over-indulgent and taken at the expense of our health and well being or at someone else's expense. Pleasure is fun, but it can be mishandled can have some very unhappy results. Joy, he suggests, has to do with a complete embrace of someone or something. When truly embracing someone, including yourself, it is difficult, if not impossible, to cause harm in order to have some temporary self-gratification.
“Mere pleasure, in yourselves and in all other beings, remains in the realm of illusion about reality. Joy is born out of union with reality itself.”
“Of all the dangers that threaten our civilization, this is one of the most dangerous ones: the escape from one's emptiness through a ‘fun’ which makes joy impossible.” (Paul Tillich. The New Being. 1955. from “The Meaning of Joy”. Pp. 146 & 147.)
When Jesus says, “that my joy may be in you,” he is speaking of his deep embrace of you. He also speaking of the way that he embraces everyone and everything around you. All things have been given into Jesus hands, and he is longing to bring all things into fruitful submission. And finally Jesus is speaking of his embrace of God the Father. Jesus knows the Father better than we can ever hope to. He is our bridge. Through his Spirit, we can come into a much deeper relationship with the Father. We can know the joy that Jesus knows. We can know the joy he has in us. We can know the joy he has in those around us, who may be very different from us. And we can know the joy he has in the Father.
(Psalm 16:11) You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Drawing closer to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, we draw closer to the Father. That closeness fills us with joy and the closer we get: trembling. none of the mountains in this world seem significant once we have been in that presence. The presence of the Father reveals more than the “path of life” in general, but the is able to increasingly reveal your particular path. In your path is the newness of life.
(John 7:18) “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”
I recently read several books on the Glory of God. Two different authors from very different backgrounds, David Herzog and Robert Henderson. Both come to the conclusion that their ability to move in the miraculous is directly linked to their ability to move into the glory of God. In particular, direct and specific instruction from the Lord comes from moving into the atmosphere of God's Glory.
The atmosphere of heaven re-makes your mind, re-makes your heart and unlocks your destiny. With the mind of Christ and the heart of heaven, you are able to accomplish things previously impossible because you are no longer who you were. You are a new being, a new man or woman able to walk in the authority of heaven because the word that you personally are meant to impart is in you. In your new being there is joy everlasting. In your new being you become a fruitful branch.
“There are two great day in a person's life: the day we were born and the day we discover why.” (William Barclay, quoted in Larry Randolph. Original Breath. pg. 140.)
“If you don't find your destiny, life will impose one upon you. The choice is yours to make.” (Larry Randolph. Original Breath. pg. 141.)
Here is the good news: Your destiny is not only God given, it is God ordained. That means that God is working on your behalf to bring into the place where your destiny can be unlocked. You do not need to strive to find it, you do not need to strive to make it happen. You need to climb up into the lap of Daddy God. In that place you will find the joy of who you are and who you are meant to be.